Too High a Price
by Dreaming of a Bright Sky
Summary: Sequel to Magic's Call. Stiles finds out that helping the supernatural community makes him and his pack a target. I'm rating this M for canon level violence and swearing. Sterek
1. Chapter 1

**Too High a Price** by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

_Stiles finds that helping the supernatural community makes him and his pack a target._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters!**

**Chapter 1 of 10**

Stiles stared at the gun being held to Derek's head. Two men grabbed the young man and began dragging him to a van. He watched as the gunman lowered his hand slightly, and he shot Derek in the chest with a smile on his face. Agonizing pain spiked through Stiles and he screamed. The doors of vehicle shut, blocking his view of his mate, but he could feel Derek's pain. He could feel the wolfsbane spreading.

He gasped out to the men holding him, "If you wanted me to do magic for you, you just destroyed any chance of that."

One of the men sneered at him. Actually sneered. How cliche was that? "What? We kill your werewolf boyfriend and you think you'll hold out on us in retaliation? We have ways of making you cooperate."

Stiles clutched his chest. "Maybe you do, but you won't get a chance to use them." He sent power down the line to Derek, feeling it enhance his mate's healing and stave off the wolfsbane, despite how near to his heart it was. The van had just started moving when they heard a roar.

Suddenly the vehicle was hit hard and it rocked over sideways. Stiles had been flung down, and the kidnappers were struggling to get upright when the doors were ripped off. Derek was wolfed out, blood dripping down his chest. The gunman lay on the parking lot behind them. Before either of the men could react, Derek threw one out and bashed the other one in the head.

Stiles scrambled to his mate. "Ohmygod, Derek!" He fumbled around through Derek's pocket until he found the lighter. He was still pumping energy through the line, but he could feel the wolfsbane getting closer to his mate's heart. Derek was human already, barely holding himself upright. By the time that Stiles pulled a bullet out of the gun and ran back, Derek was laying pale on the asphalt. "You'll be fine you'll be fine, you'll be fine."

He struggled with opening the bullet. "Open, damn it!" It popped open and Stiles hastily scraped it into a pile and lit it. He didn't care that it was still hot and burned his hand when he scraped up what he could and pushed it into Derek's wound. "You'll be fine, you'll be fine, you'll be fine!" He kept saying it over and over.

With a small puff of smoke the ash entered the wound and Stiles saw the poisonous black lines retract from Derek's flesh. Derek whimpered, then worked up to full screams as he convulsed. The ash counteracted the wolfsbane in his chest and with one last shudder, he lay still. Stiles threw himself at his mate and started touching his face, "Derek? Derek! Come on. Come on, Derek!"

The alpha's hand shakily reached up and touched his wrist. "Stiles. Shut up." Derek's voice was weak but he let out a breath in relief. The adrenaline was still pumping through Stiles' body and he could feel himself shaking. Derek pulled his mate on top of himself and held him. "Calm down."

They laid there like that until they heard sirens in the distance. Stiles rolled away and held his hand out. "We need to go." He pulled Derek up and they took off.

###

Stiles had been expecting it, and wasn't surprised to see his dad's patrol car pull into their driveway an hour later. The man's face was grim and he didn't even knock. As soon as he spotted Stiles, some color came back to his face. He looked around. "Derek?"

"He's okay. Resting. They shot him with wolfsbane. Point blank to the chest, dad. It was inches from his heart."

His dad pulled him into a hug."I'm glad that you're both okay. This has been happening too much lately."

Stiles sighed. "Yeah." He fidgeted. "I didn't realize how badly people would want me once they figured out what I can do. Derek's talking about having at least two wolves with me at all times. How am I supposed to finish school like this? I can't walk around with body guards all the time. They can't spend their time babysitting me!"

"You've only got six weeks left. You've tried so hard to get your degree and have some normalcy. It would be a waste to quit now."

"Dad, it's a degree I won't even be able to use except to teach, and I'd be putting kids at risk if I were teaching. We can't count on these jerks not coming after me, even in a school."

"You should still finish, Stiles."

"He's right." Derek came down the stairs of their new house. "Finish your degree."

"If you want two wolves with me at any time, how are we going to do this? You're finishing up your classes and have certifications to deal with, and everybody else has jobs except for Isaac." The curly haired wolf had finished classes the previous semester, but hadn't found a job yet. In part, it was because he spent so much of his time playing wolfy bodyguard for Stiles. He was staying at the new house and they were covering his food, but Stiles still felt bad. Isaac deserved a life of his own.

"With all of us pitching in, we can make it work. You're reasonably safe here, so it's only for when you're at school and working with Dr. Morrell."

The Sheriff thought that Stiles should quit working for the doctor and said as much. Maybe this would all go away then. Stiles shook his head. "No. They already realize what I can do. The damage is already done. All I can do now is try to keep everybody around me from getting killed."

Derek looked at the Sheriff. "I think it might be safer if you stayed here for a while."

"Yeah, okay." The older man looked at his watch. "I have to get back. The guys we picked up aren't talking, but we have them on illegal weapons charges. I'll be by after work."

Stiles called out to him as he was leaving. "Dad, come here before going to your place. Let Isaac or Derek go with you to get your stuff."

The Sheriff nodded, waved, and got in the cruiser.

###

A week later, Stiles noticed a young girl hanging around outside the college from the classroom window. At first, he didn't think anything of it, guessing that it was somebody's little sister. When she was still there when class ended, he was curious.

Isaac and Scott had escorted him to class. When he came out it was Isaac and Derek. The girl spotted him, looked at a slip of paper that she held in her hand, and approached him. Derek and Isaac blocked her access. Stiles asked, "Human?"

"She's got a weird smell."

The child's voice was high and clear. "Healer Stiles?"

"I'm Stiles, but I'm not really a healer."

In the space between the two werewolves, he could see the girl shuffle nervously and tug at her skirt. "I've heard... I've heard that you help people."

Stiles touched Derek's shoulder. The alpha slid over enough to let Stiles through. The young man stepped through the space and knelt in front of the girl. Derek stayed right next to him. He spoke softly to the girl. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "It's my mama. She's hurt. Can you help her?"

"I work with a doctor who does the healing. I just help."

The child looked up, tears in her eyes. "Please, Healer Stiles! I've heard that you help people. Please help my mama."

Stiles' heart broke at the pain in her big brown eyes. "I'll tell you what. We can go look at your mom and if I can help her, I will. If I can't, I'll call my friend who is a doctor." He looked at Derek and Isaac. "You guys good with this?"

Isaac smiled but Derek grumbled, "You've already agreed, so why ask us for approval now?" The little girl turned her teary eyes on the alpha and he just huffed. "Fine."

"Softy." Stiles stood up and kissed his mate, then he turned to the girl. "What's your name?"

"Tamoko."

"Ok, Tamoko. Take us to your mom."

The child came up close to them and in a blink, they were somewhere else. For a split second, Stiles thought he saw a phantom tail on the girl and then the image was gone. They were now standing in front of an old building, and Stiles would swear that it looked like a Japanese temple. Derek was stiff and growling low in his throat. Even Isaac was looking tense. Tamoko just glanced at them and walked up the steps. "Healer Stiles, my mama is inside. Will you come?"

Derek blocked his way. "She teleported us. I'm not sure where we are."

Tamoko stood waiting, eyes still fixed on Stiles. He looked at his mate. "We're here now. We might as well go in."

Derek waited agonizingly long moments, and then he relented. He went in first, following the child. Isaac was behind Stiles, looking around warily. Inside there was a woman who was laying in an open expanse of room. Tamoko ran to her and spoke in a language that Stiles thought was Asian. Japanese. Fitting that with what the child had done, the answer snapped into his brain. "She's a Kitsune."

As he approached, he was almost surprised to find that the woman wasn't wearing a kimono. But then, he supposed they had to fit in with modern society, and Tamoko was dressed like a normal little girl. Bloody gashes snaked along the woman's stomach and side, and a nasty wound was laid open on her arm. Derek knelt down next to him and they both acknowledged the woman. Her dark eyes watched them, but she didn't speak.

The alpha inspected the wounds. "I'm not smelling poison in the wounds, or infection. I think she just needs to be stitched up." He looked around at the bare room. "I'd need a suture kit."

Tamoko nodded at the alpha and was gone in the next instant. This time Stiles was sure that he saw a fox tail. While they waited for her return, Stiles spoke to the woman.

"Hi! I'm Stiles. This is Derek, and that's Isaac. Do you speak English? I'm sorry, but I don't speak Japanese."

"Yes. I speak English. You may call me Akari."

"Akari. Ok. What caused these wounds? Is there something that I need to know? I normally work with a doctor and he would be doing this. I'm not familiar with kitsune. You are a kitsune, right? But yeah, not familiar with that. Do you heal fast like werewolves, or human slow?"

"Stiles, you might want to slow down and let her answer one question before you launch into more." Isaac was clearly amused.

"Right. Sorry." Stiles grinned at Akari. He could see Derek frowning at his cell phone from the corner of his eye. He pulled out his own, and saw that he had no reception. He turned his attention back to Akari.

The kitsune gave a small twist of her lips upwards. "I am a kitsune. You have deduced correctly. We heal much faster than humans, but perhaps not as fast as the garou." The beautiful woman turned her head and watched her daughter pop back into view. "I encountered a dark yokai. In your terms, a demon."

"Demon?! Holy God, they actually exist?"

Derek looked at him incredulously. "You've spent all this time with Dr. Morrell and didn't know that?"

Stiles pouted a little. "No. I guess I'll have to remedy that."

Derek took the suture kit from Tomoko and approached her mother. "I don't have anesthesia, so this will hurt." At her nod, he started pulling things out and he spoke to Stiles. "While I'm stitching, do can your thing."

With Derek stitching up the kitsune and occasionally drawing away her pain, Stiles concentrated on believing that she would heal quickly and well. By the time they were done, the wounds looked days old, rather than fresh. The relief on her face was palpable. "How may I repay you?"

Stiles, Derek, and Isaac looked at each other. The alpha spoke, "We need to have Tamoko take us back."

"I do not wish to owe you a debt." The woman gestured at her daughter, and the child helped her sit up. She pulled out a small bundle from within the flowing cloth of her skirt and unwrapped it. She selected three items from within. She held them in her hand and they began to glow softly to Stiles eyes. When she was done, she held them out. "I know that you are hunted, young mortal. This will protect you from evil magic. It will not protect from physical harm, so do not rely on it for that. By giving you these, all debt is clear. Are we agreed?"

"Yes, thank you." The charms were carved stone, with cords running through holes cut into the center. They felt warm in his hand. He handed one each to Derek and to Isaac.

Isaac thanked Akari. She responded, "No. This is payment. Kitsune do not like to owe debts, nor would you want to owe a debt to one of us. Remember that in the future." She stood and bowed. "Please allow my daughter to see you safely back."

Before Stiles could respond, they were standing back in from of the college. It was dark now, and all three of their phones started beeping with messages. Tamoko apologized. "I'm sorry. Your cell phones could not operate where I took you, and I am unable to take you back to the time when we left. I am only half kitsune and I am young, so I can only move you from place to place. I cannot affect time. Thank you for helping mama." Then she was gone.

They texted their now frantic pack to assure them that they were fine. Stiles had the feeling that they were going to be ambushed as soon as they got home, and he was right. Cars were lining the driveway, making it difficult for the Camaro to pull all the way in. "See Derek, I told you we needed a small parking lot!" The alpha glared at him.

The pack was all standing on the porch, waiting for them. Scott was already leaping down and trotting towards them, and the car hadn't fully stopped when he was pulling Stiles' door open. "What the hell? Why didn't you call us? What happened?"

Derek reached across Stiles and grabbed Scott. "Don't do that again!"

"Woah! Back off!"

Stiles shoved the two apart. "Chill!" Having the benefit of a bond to his mate, he knew what had upset Derek. "Scott, don't open the door before the car stops." He patted his friend's arm. "We couldn't call you because a kitsune transported us somewhere that our cell phones didn't have reception."

Scott made a face at Derek. "It's not like you were going fast, and Stiles was still buckled in. Even if he wasn't, we're both werewolves, dude. We'd have caught him!" His brain caught up with him, "Wait! What? Kitsune...what the hell is that?"

"Back up and let me out, and we can explain this to everyone, okay?" He said quietly to Scott, even though he knew that Derek could hear him. "You know that he gets twitchy when weird stuff happens. Give him some space."

Scott looked at his friend and glanced at Derek. He shrugged but went back to the house. After pushing everybody to go in, they relayed the tale. All the wolves sniffed at the amulets, and Lydia pulled out her laptop. "The kid wasn't kidding about the space and time thing. Evidently, it has no meaning to them."

She looked at the amulet that Stiles was wearing. "You know this is a pretty big deal, right? Did she mention it needing to be recharged yearly at a temple?" At Stiles' negative, she continued, "Most of the Japanese protection amulets that I'm seeing need to be re-blessed each year. I wonder if these things are permanently charged? I would almost bet they are."

Danny had a funny look on his face. "Kitsune aren't like people or werewolves. They're supernatural on a whole other level. The Japanese call them yokai, but they aren't demons. It just means that they have a lot of power. The Japanese have shrines for them."

Stiles thought that over. "So they worship them?"

"In some ways, yes. You met what amounts to a Japanese demi-God."

Sheriff Stilinski sat down with a thump. "Only you, Stiles, only you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Too High a Price**by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

** Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters!**

**Chapter 2 of 10**

The bond thrummed with tension and then he received a text. "Not safe. Stay put. We'll come to you. -D" Unbeknownst to the other students, the college had become a warzone. It was the one place where Stile's had a known routine and the wolves couldn't be right at his side. There were only two weeks to go, but Stiles still didn't know if he'd be able to safely finish.

Everybody kept telling him to stick it out, but he felt like he was putting a lot of people in danger for this. He didn't know if the risk was worth it. He'd never forgotten the innocent people who'd been killed at the other college. If it happened again, or if anyone from the pack got killed... He shook his head. He didn't want to go there.

When class ended he gathered up his stuff and shuffled out with the rest. However, instead of leaving, he stood in the hall. Stiles was still feeling tension down the link, so he knew the threat was still high. Students came and went as he waited, and the only thing holding him in place was the knowledge that Derek would flip out if he left. As high as the stress level had been lately, he didn't want to push it. He'd begun tapping his fingers against the wall when Scott came around the corner. "Hey, where's Derek?"

Stiles stood up straighter. "What do you mean? Isn't he with you?"

"No. He was chasing after somebody on the roof. He said that he'd meet me back here."

Stiles opened up the link further. They'd found that if they left it wide open, it got very distracting. They'd figured out how to keep it at a low background hum until they needed to use it. He could tell that Derek was close by and unhurt. His mate felt him and sent a pulse of reassurance. "He's on his way. So what was it this time?"

"Werewolves. They wanted to 'borrow' you. Derek refused. It was posturing more than any real fighting. It's too public here."

"It means they'll be back."

Scott shrugged and pushed off the wall. "I thought Derek was on his way. Where is he? I'm supposed to be at the clinic soon."

"I'm here." Stiles knew that Derek was fine, but seeing him helped him relax. The alpha wrapped an arm behind Stiles and they all moved out to the parking lot. "Stiles is right. They'll probably be back, so Scott? Be careful."

"Will do!"

The beta headed out and Stiles watched him go. "Think he'll be safe?"

"He's strong. He'll be fine." He opened Stiles' door. "Get in. I don't like standing out here in the open." Belying his earlier statement, as soon as they were in the car, the alpha called Deaton. "Scott's on his way. Let me know if he doesn't get there."

As they drove, Stiles talked. "We need to find a way to turn this to our advantage; to use my abilities to make our pack stronger and more powerful. If we're bad-ass enough, people will leave us alone." Derek didn't say anything and the bond from his end was tightly tamped down. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I can't expand the pack. It would break the terms of agreement with the Argents."

"Right." Stiles was confused. He knew this already.

"Allison is back in town. She stopped in to see me at the house before I came and took over for Isaac."

"What did she want?" Wow. Allison. She'd left for college and hadn't come back, even after she'd graduated.

"She evidently still has contacts with the hunting community. She warned me that she'd heard rumors of our pack's power growing, and that we'd better not break the treaty."

"Fantastic." Stiles' tone was bitingly sarcastic. "So now we have to watch out for idiots who want my abilities _and_ hunters. That's just great. I take it that Scott doesn't know."

"No. I haven't told him yet. I'm waiting to see if she stays in Beacon Hills or if she was just delivering the message."

"You'll need to tell him either way. If she stays and he finds out that you hadn't told him, he's going to be upset. We don't need that kind of division in the pack right now."

"We also don't need him to go off half-cocked! You know how he is about her!"

Stiles laid a hand on Derek's leg. "I know, but you have to trust him. If he screws up, we'll deal with it, but I don't think he will."

Derek's hands tightened on the steering wheel, but he didn't keep arguing.

###

Stiles was counting down the days until college was over. Next week was finals and today was his last day of actual classes. The other pack had attempted to take him at the college twice more, and made one attempt when he'd been with Dr. Morrell. In that last case, one of the other pack's wolves had been killed. Dr. Morrell; Mathias or Matt, as Stiles now called him, had shot it with a bullet infused with wolfsbane and mountain ash. The effect had been...horrifying.

The pack had done them one favor: They'd run off a group of magic users who wanted Stiles to join them instead of running with werewolves. They felt that humans should help humans, and that it was a travesty that Stiles was helping the 'foul creatures of the moon'.

Derek was ready to crush the invading pack, but Stiles refused to let it happen at the school. Combined with Allison Argent's surveillance of them, he wasn't ready to start a war. Everybody was at an impasse and Stiles knew that it was going to explode. Scott had tried talking to Allison, but she'd shut the door in his face. It was a three way face off, and Stiles was afraid that they'd all come out losers.

His last full day of classes went without a hitch and it made Stiles nervous. The drive home was quiet, too. It wasn't until late that night that shit hit the fan. Stiles woke to Derek pulling clothes on and tension rising through the link. "What is it?"

"The other pack is here. Get your dad and go to the safe room."

Stiles started getting dressed. "I'll get dad up and we'll join you."

Derek grabbed his shoulders. "No! I want you to be protected."

Stiles shook him off. "I've been running with the pack since I was sixteen. Do you really think that I'm going to run and hide? I can help you, and you know it!"

"You can also help from inside the safe room!"

Stiles stood his ground and looked at Derek. "I'm not hiding. I'm going to get my dad up, and we're going to face this together." With one last look at his mate, the young man grabbed a backpack from the end of the bed and headed to his dad's room. Once the older man was up, he met up with Derek downstairs. "Has the pack been alerted?"

"Yeah, I sent a text."

Isaac was downstairs, and the four of them went out onto the front porch. Stiles reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of powder. Then he opened up the link to Derek and slowly began pushing power through. He felt it seep through the pack bond. He could feel Isaac on the porch next to him, and Scott was on his way. Erica and Boyd were already circling behind the property, and Danny was coming.

It started fast. One minute Derek was on the porch next to him, and the next the alpha was launching himself into the night. With a snarl, Isaac wolfed out and Stiles heard the crash of bodies impacting. His dad had his gun out and ready, wolfsbane bullets loaded. He pushed more power down the link, hoping to help his pack.

A dark shape darted towards them and Sheriff Stilinski fired. It was a clean head shot, and Stiles couldn't help but be impressed. Another shape blurred towards them and the Sheriff aimed, and then abruptly yanked his gun up. The Sheriff spoke, knowing that all the wolves could hear him. "Friendlies need to warn me, or you're going to get hit!"

The dark shape coalesced from the darkness and Stiles could now see that it was Boyd. "Sorry. Derek wants me back here with you two."

"That's fine, son, but warn a guy next time. I almost shot you."

Before more could be said, another wolf made a run at the porch and Boyd was on it. The pair rolled and snarled on the ground, blood spraying. Stiles hoped that the blood was the invading wolf's and not Boyd's.

The two humans could hear the snarls and fighting, but it was hard to see. It was cloudy, and they didn't have werewolf vision. A car came skidding up into the driveway, and Stiles was pretty sure that it was Scott. A shape jumped out of the car and swallowed by the chaos.

Boyd was back on the porch, covered in blood, but he didn't seem injured. He'd said "friendly" when he'd come back, moving slowly with his hands held out. The Sheriff had nodded and waved him on up. Another wolf dropped from the roof, and Sheriff Stilinski shot it. The wolf went stumbling back with a howl, bullet wound flashing blue on its shoulder. Boyd raked his claws along its neck, and it dropped with a wet thud on the steps.

Another one dropped and Stiles threw a handful of powder and willed it to _bind_. The werewolf dropped like a rock, and Isaac darted up with a quickly muttered "friendly", dispatching it. Stiles felt bad, but he knew they needed to kill these intruders. Werewolf politics didn't allow for a lot of softness and if you didn't kill a pack that attacked you, you were seen as weak and became a target.

Scott had been thrown near the porch and two werewolves were on him. Sheriff Stilinski shot one and the other suddenly sprouted arrows. Looking around wildly, Stiles tried to spot Allison. He knew it had to be her. Scott stood and stared out into the darkness, and Stiles knew that he could see her. The beta looked for a few seconds and then was back into the fray.

Stiles was still pumping energy down the bond and he could feel Derek's rage. They were intruding on his territory, threatening his mate, and fighting with his pack. Stiles had no idea how many wolves Derek had already taken out, but his mate was in an almost beserker like fury. He didn't, however, take out Allison; and Stiles knew that Derek could sense her.

Stiles' brief moment of inattention almost cost him. Another wolf dropped from the roof and had almost grabbed Stiles when Boyd roared and was shoving Stiles back. A second wolf was suddenly there, and he was ready with another handful or powder. _Bind! _Another one down, and he heard his dad's gun fire another round. Just how many wolves did this pack have?!

He turned when his dad kept firing. Boyd was still fighting with the one that had almost gotten Stiles, and there were several almost on his dad. He threw the whole jar of powder and thought _bind!_ but it missed the one at the end. His dad's gun clicked empty and Stiles began reaching into his bag when an arrow thudded into the werewolf's back. Sheriff Stilinski's shoulder's sagged in relief and he quickly reloaded his gun. Stiles readied another jar of powder and some oil.

Boyd had finished with his wolf and dispatched all the ones that were bound by Stiles' magic. The sounds of fighting were lessening and one by one, their pack was gathering on the porch. The last one up was Derek. He was covered with blood and other things that Stiles didn't want to think about. Once everybody was accounted for, they sent Lydia a text. She'd been waiting for the go ahead and would be there soon. As a human non-combatant with no magical powers, she didn't participate in the battles unless it could be helped.

The bodies were laid out in the giant fire pit and Stiles tried counting them. Derek came up beside him. "Thirty two."

"That should tell these people not to mess with us. We had two humans and five werewolves, and we took out a pack of thirty two wolves. It was a freaking blood bath." He turned to Derek. "Are packs normally that big? That seems like a lot."

"Maybe twenty were part of the pack that has been hanging around the college. Judging by scent, there was another small pack involved, and a couple of omegas."

"Crap. So they're ganging up on us now. Wonderful."

Scott spoke. "Allison took out three."

"Is she still here?"

"No. She's already gone."

Erica had joined them. "How did we take out thirty two werewolves with seven people? Eight, if you count Allison. Are any of us even hurt?"

Derek answered. "Stiles. He was pumping energy through the bond and it made us all faster and stronger."

Stiles had been sprinkling the bodies with some sort of scented oil. "Okay, Dr. Morrell taught me this trick, but I've only done it on dead animals to be cremated at the clinic. Step back, okay? This is a lot bigger than I'm used to."

After everybody was clear, Stiles _believed_ that the bodies would burn down to ashes with nothing else remaining. He tossed a match on the pile, stepped back, and thought _burn! _ For a second, air sucked into the space and then fire shot up like a geyser. Derek darted forward and grabbed Stiles, turning his mate away from the fire. He felt the heat searing his back. With a whoosh, the fire went out and all that remained was smoldering ash.

Stiles eyes were big. "Next time, we need to rig something to light it from a distance. Holy crap!" his face was pink from the heat, but he didn't seem hurt. He turned Derek around. The alpha's back was deep red. "Oh my God!"

His mate winced and grimaced a bit at being twisted around. "It's fine. I'll heal."

Lydia had arrived and was overseeing clean up. She was helping Isaac and Erica hose down the front yard to get rid of the blood and gore.

The werewolves were rinsing off in an outdoor shower near the back porch. It was normally used before getting into the hot tub, but in this case, it would keep them from tracking blood everywhere. Stiles got Derek under it and began gently rinsing him down. The alpha didn't make a sound, but he could feel his mate's discomfort. When rinsed clean, Stiles patted the werewolf dry and chivied him inside.

All of their clothes went into the wash and the pack slipped into fresh sets. Then they raided the fridge. Stiles grabbed two plates, and brought them back to Derek. They all sat there eating, coming down from the battle. Stiles addressed the elephant in the room. "So...Allison."

Derek swallowed his food. "She's been watching us on and off since she came to town. She was out there when the other pack arrived. I could smell her and hear her heartbeat."

"She killed one to save my dad, and I saw the shot to protect Scott."

Scott was staring out the window. "She shot another one that was charging me from behind. I'd just turned and it was dropping, an arrow through its throat." The beta looked from Stiles to Derek. "What does this mean? Is she helping us?"

"I'm not sure that we can assume that yet." Stiles pushed food around his plate with a fork. "I know that you'd like to believe that she was helping us, but she came here to threaten us about getting too strong. She's been watching, but has refused to talk to anybody." He looked at his best friend, wishing that he didn't have to say this, "I think that for now, we just have to wait and see what her next move is."

Stiles knew that despite Scott having dated other girls, even going brain dead over them on occasion, Allison had always been 'the one'. He didn't know what this meant and he didn't want his best friend crushed if Allison turned on them again. He just didn't know how to prevent it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Too High a Price** by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters!**

**Chapter 3 of 10**

Word must have spread about them taking out the wolves because the following few weeks were quiet. Stiles got his degree and Derek had his certifications. The alpha still wasn't sure if he was going to get a job as a paramedic, but the knowledge and skills he'd gained had been worth it. He'd had a mandatory number of ambulance calls that he'd had to run the year before to step up from EMT to paramedic. He hadn't been comfortable working with crying children and frightened people, and it took a lot of time away from his job as an alpha.

He had gained a definite measure of respect for the men and women that did this for a living. The burn out rate was high, and these people put their lives in danger every day to help others, often for very low pay. It was a tough job.

Stiles was in a weird position. He had a degree now, but no way to use it without risking people's safety. At least he made a decent amount of money helping Dr. Morrell, not that they needed it. Lydia had dragged Derek and Stiles off to an accountant and helped them invest their money. There was now a general pack account that they all had access to. Lydia insisted that everybody who actually made a living chip into it. There was also a retirement fund set up for Sheriff Stilinski and Mrs. McCall, though they didn't know that yet.

Scott had tried to talk to Allison again, but Chris answered the door. He told the young man that Allison didn't want to talk to him. Since then, she hadn't watched them, but she was still in town.

The pack was still vigilant, aware that there were still those out there who wanted to use Stiles, but they weren't expecting snipers. Isaac, Derek, and Stiles had gone grocery shopping and were loading up the car. Derek stiffened abruptly, and dropped to his knees. Isaac grabbed Stiles, shoving the human behind him. He heard something hit the werewolf, and the force of the bullet caused the young beta to slam back into Stiles. Crushed between the jeep and Isaac, he couldn't move and he felt a bullet hit his shoulder. Blackness was edging at his vision as he slid down. He could see boots coming toward him. "I want the wolves. Leave the human. Let him die; the werewolf sympathizer that he is." Another shot rang out and he felt pain. Then nothing.

Stiles became aware in bits and snatches. There was pain burning through him, not all of it his, but he couldn't remember why that was important. Voices murmured, machines made sounds, and his throat felt wrong. It was all jumbled and blurry and none of those snatches lasted long. The longest bit of coherency he'd had was waking up to feeling like something was in his throat. It was choking him! He tried pulling it out and hands grabbed him. Raised voices were shouting and then the thing was pulled out, leaving his throat raw and painful. Blackness sucked him back under as he felt a mask being fitted over his face.

He kept wondering where Derek was. Wait...Derek! Isaac. Stiles clawed out the cloud fogging his brain, trying to force himself to awareness. He fought and his eyelids felt scratchy. With great effort, he wrestled them open and saw his dad by his bedside. The man looked haggard and grey. Dark circles rimmed his eyes. "Dad..." Stiles voice was rusty and barely audible, but the Sheriff's head jerked at the sound.

"Stiles!" He looked so relieved and Stiles felt bad for scaring him. Again. "Let me call the nurse. We're supposed to let them know if you wake up."

"Wait. Derek? Isaac?"

His father pulled his 'I'm delivering bad news' face. "Missing. Word is that they're alive. We're looking son. We're all looking." He patted Stiles arm. "Let me get the nurse." By the time she came in, Stiles was already back out.

He woke up again to hear Scott arguing with...Chris Argent? "If you know where they are, you have to let us get them!"

"It's not that simple, Scott. They're a fully armed group of hunters. We can't go against them like this."

"We can't leave them. If Derek dies, Stiles dies. You know that!"

"And I'm sorry about that. I am."

"Fine. Tell me where they are and I'll go. I'm not leaving them there to be tortured and die! Isaac is my friend and Derek is my alpha."

"I won't do that, Scott. That would be sending you to your death and Allison would never forgive me."

"Allison doesn't matter right now. Derek, Isaac, and Stiles do!"

The Sheriff's voice cut into the conversation. "Mr. Argent. If you have knowledge about the whereabouts of Mr. Hale and Mr. Lahey and do not disclose them to me, I will have you charged with obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting. I'm sure that I can find a few more charges to add in."

Stiles thoughts were, "My dad is awesome!" before he was back asleep.

He felt like he was moving. Yeah, that was a speed bump. Definitely. Ouch. When he opened his eyes, he was in the back of an van with Dr. Morrell. "Stiles! We're transferring you to a private facility. We felt that would be best." The doctor injected something into his IV line. "This will knock you back out for the trip. That will be easiest on you." Matt's hand was warm on his arm. "Everything is fine. Don't worry."

Stiles woke feeling very warm. When he looked, he realized why. Derek was in the hospital bed with him. He turned his head and spotted Isaac. Then he recognized the room; it was Dr. Morrell's private clinic. He took stock. He was alive. Obviously. He hurt too much to be dead. Fingers and toes all moved. That was a bonus. His shoulder and chest hurt, but not in the same way as when he'd had broken ribs, so he was guessing no broken ribs.

Next he tried to determine how Derek was. The alpha was curled around him and he couldn't see under the blankets, so he couldn't take stock of any injuries that way. His mate was pale and sweating. That wasn't a good sign. He managed to wiggle an arm free, not without significant pain, and he felt for Derek's pulse. Strong, but rapid. Ok. He felt through the link and found out that some of the discomfort he'd been feeling wasn't his. Derek burned with pain. It licked through his body, and Stiles could tell that the werewolf wasn't healing right.

He left his hand on Derek's neck and sent what energy he could through the bond, trying to jump start his mate's healing. He felt the pain ease some, but it quickly tired Stiles out. He lay there, feeling like he'd run a marathon, and waited for somebody to wake up or come in. He wanted to know what was going on. Periodically, he'd send more power to his mate. Then he'd rest. Stiles did this for several hours before Dr. Morrell came in.

The conversation that followed was very unsettling. The hunters had wanted to experiment on the wolves. They were willing to torture and vivisect Isaac and Derek to get results. Issac's injuries were relatively straight forward. Most were from a scalpel and would heal. They'd started on the vivisection with Derek, but he healed too fast. Then they began the experiments. Evidently the worst had been when they'd injected him with a mountain ash solution. It had hit his blood stream and raced through his entire system. He was only alive because he was an alpha, and because of his connection to Stiles.

However, that connection had interfered with Stiles' healing. He'd taken a bullet to the shoulder and another to the chest. The second shot had ricocheted off a rib instead of killing him. While the wound was nasty, surgery had gone well. Recovery was going as expected until Derek's torture had begun. Stiles blood pressure had skyrocketed and medicine wasn't bringing it down. Doctor's couldn't understand why his pain levels were so high, so they'd kept him sedated for a long time.

Derek and Isaac had been rescued 8 days after being taken and Dr. Morrell had Stiles transferred. He knew that being together would allow the mates to heal properly.

The biggest surprise was what happened during the rescue. Chris had told Allison that it was happening, and she'd gone to make sure none of the hunters were killed. She'd been horrified at the hunter's experimentation. Scott ended up sending Derek to the clinic with Boyd and Erica because Allison was in shock. The beta had driven her home and handed her off to her father. He'd had to explain what she'd seen. The older man had looked at her, sadly, and explained, "All the hunting families have done this, Allison. Every time a new idea is thought of, or a new weapon, we have to test them. This is what hunting is." Her eyes had been big in her pale face, and she excused herself to her room.

In the evening, the whole pack arrived. Isaac had woken and was acting skittish. Loud noises startled him, and everybody had to be slow approaching him. He did end up letting Scott curl up with him on the bed, offering comfort. Derek was still unconscious, but Dr. Morrell wasn't overly concerned about it. The alpha had suffered badly and his body needed rest. Stiles helped as he could, and various pack members drew Derek and Stiles' pain.

Stiles woke later and it was quiet. The lighting was low and it was only the three of them. He could feel Derek's body twitching in pain. Half asleep, Stiles turned into his mate, ignoring the dull ache of his own wounds. He ran his hands along any skin he could find, attempting to bring comfort to the werewolf. He could feel the mountain ash inside Derek's body, fighting with his system. Stiles' fingers found an unhealed cut on Derek's back and before he could think about it consciously, he _willed_ the mountain ash out of Derek's body. It responded to him, just like it had the night of the rave. A small spray arced out of the cut, away from Derek's body, and down to the floor below. It seemed such a small amount so have caused so much pain. Falling back to sleep, Stiles dimly thought of Derek waking whole and healed before he drifted off.

He woke again to loud voices and bright light. Derek was awake next to him, still looking pale and drawn, but better. Stiles started to put the conversation together. Evidently, he hadn't dreamed the middle of the night thing with the mountain ash, and it lay on the floor around the bed in a perfect circle. Outside of the circle stood Scott, Danny, and Dr. Morrell. Danny looked unruffled, while Scott was obviously confused and upset. Isaac was huddled on his bed, the noise frightening him. Matt had obviously figured it out and looked like a proud father. "Good job, Stiles."

"Um, thanks. Hey Scott, buddy, can you tone it down? You're freaking Isaac out."

"Oh. Sorry."

Stiles waved a hand and the circle broke, allowing everybody through. Danny said hello to his alpha and Stiles, and then moved along to Isaac. He spoke softly and let Isaac get comfortable with his presence before coming closer. Soon they were talking normally.

Dr. Morrell checked Derek over, pleased with his progress. He moved quickly along to Stiles, checking the wounds. "It looks good. We've had you sedated for most of the last nine days, so you've healed a fair amount in that time. I would like to get you up today and have you start carefully moving around."

The doctor left with a promise to bring back food. Scott had been waiting to talk to the pair and he sat down. Derek was being silent and broody, and Stiles was having a hard time getting an idea of what he was feeling. When Scott mentioned Allison, however, anger spiked down the bond. "Derek, hey…calm down, ok?"

Scott looked confused. "What?" Then he caught the scent of Derek's anger. "Oh." He got that puppy dog look. "But Allison stopped by to see me this morning. She wants to set up a meeting with the pack."

Feeling the anger scroll higher, Stiles headed this off. "Maybe bringing this up after he's spent eight days being tortured by hunters isn't a great idea. How about we let everybody recover, give him some time, and discuss it then? In case you hadn't noticed?" Stiles waved his hand to indicate the room. "Basically we're in the hospital. And me? I got shot. Twice. I've spent nine days drugged into oblivion. Let's discuss this later before Derek rips your arm off and beats you to death with it."

Scott started talking about the vet clinic and his mom. Safe subjects. The alpha was on edge, though, and he definitely needed to wind down. Stiles sent calming thoughts to his mate, and Derek pulled him closer, settling his face in Stiles' neck. By the time that Matt came back with food, Derek was relatively calm.

That afternoon was fun. Not. Nine days of being drugged senseless? It leaves your muscles like jelly. The bullet wounds were on their way to healing, but the muscle weakness was a complete pain in the ass. Literally. He was showering when his legs just gave out on him. Luckily he didn't hit his head, but he did slam his injured shoulder into the shower wall. That may have hurt just a little.

He knew Derek had either heard the fall or felt the pain through the link because it began vibrating with concern. Stiles had gotten back up when Derek got there to check on him. "I'm fine. I just slipped. I fell on my ass. No worries!" Derek's face looked pinched. "I'm not sure what's up with the not talking, but it's getting kind of weird. Did they do something to your throat? Do we need to have the doc take a look?"

"No."

"Okay." He wasn't sure what days of torture would do to you, but Derek had survived before. Stiles was counting on his mate being strong enough to survive this too. "I'm almost done. Just give me a few and I'll be out."

The day passed into night and both wolves were recovering. Stiles was just glad that they were all alive. He was counting that as a win.


	4. Chapter 4

**Too High a Price**by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 4 of 10**

Allison argent stood at their door. Did the woman have no sense of self-preservation? At least she didn't have any visible weaponry.

They'd only been home a couple of days, and the alpha wasn't healing as fast as normal. Eight days of torture, no food, and mountain ash had hurt the alpha. Even Isaac wasn't quite back up to speed. Stiles and his wholly human healing was doing better than the two wolves were.

Derek wasn't talking much. The most Stiles could get was monosyllabic answers. Everybody else got glares and silence. It was making the entire pack tense to have Derek shutting them out. It felt like high school all over again.

"Allison. Not a good time."

She faced Stiles. "I'm here to see Derek."

"Seriously, you need to go. Come back in a few weeks or something." He tried closing the door and she jammed her foot in in. He grated, "Do you have a freaking death wish? Hunters are not his favorite people right now."

"Stiles, I need to talk to Derek. Immediately." She shouldered the door open, pushing Stiles back roughly. Still lacking in the balance department he stumbled back, caught his heel on the rug, and fell. He knew that Derek had heard the whole exchange; anger simmering through the bond. Now it stoked to a burning hot rage and Stiles scrambled up to prevent Derek from killing the woman.

The alpha roared and Stiles could hear him coming. He literally shoved Allison out the door. "You need to go right now! Do not come back until Scott says you can. If then. In fact, stay as far away as possible!" He slammed the door in her face and turned just in time to face Derek. His mate was enraged, and right now, his fragile human self was the only thing standing between an angry alpha and a hunter whose family could still call down destruction on the pack. The Argent name alone could call hunters to their side if they declared war. "Derek, calm down. She's leaving."

Derek roared right in his face. Outside, he could hear Allison pounding on the door. Holy God, the woman was trying to get them killed!

"Oh my freaking God! Allison, you need to leave or he is going to kill you. And Derek, calm the hell down. RIGHT NOW!" Isaac stood at the top of the stairs, afraid to come further. Stiles called to him, "Call the pack and get somebody here to help me before Derek decides to go through me to get to Allison!" The werewolf nodded and ducked away.

Deciding to ignore the hunter, he focused on Derek. At least the alpha was still on this side of the door and Stiles wasn't a bloody pulp on the rug. "Derek, you cannot kill her. I realize that she's persona non grata on sheer principle, but calm down. Chill." He had to keep Derek inside long enough for somebody to show up and get Allison the hell out of there.

He was pushing as much calm as possible down the link, but he had to admit, calm wasn't what he was feeling. He was backed against a flimsy door by over two hundred pounds of pissed off werewolf. On the other side was Allison Argent; resident hunter, the girl who'd shot Boyd full of arrows like he was a pincushion, and niece of the woman who killed Derek's entire family. Yeah, not exactly a recipe for finding one's inner peace. "Derek, she didn't hurt me. Allison was unarmed. She just came to talk. There's no need to go all wolfy, okay?"

Derek was growling low in his throat but he hadn't moved. Stiles stepped close and slid one of his hands underneath Derek's t-shirt to contact skin. He slid his other hand to the back of his mate's neck, pushing his face down and into Stiles' shoulder. The alpha's muscles were corded like steel wire, but he eventually gave way to Stiles' gentle pressure. Stiles held him, letting Derek's anger and pain wash over him. He sent comfort back.

He heard Scott and Erica on the other side of the door. Allison had stopped banging and one of them, probably Erica, dragged her away. Stiles relaxed a bit even though he knew that Derek would still hear the hunter until she was much further away. The immediate danger had been averted.

The tension suddenly spiked again in his mate's body, and Stiles wondered what was going on. Finally, he heard a car drive away. He got the two of them maneuvered away from the door, allowing Scott and Erica in. Derek straightened. "We need to discuss what she said."

Scott looked freaked and Erica was mad. Stiles, not having werewolf hearing, was in the dark. "What did she say?" Everybody was silent. "Okay, spill! One of you talk."

"She sold us out to those hunters! She let them into the territory and gave them information on us. It's how she knew where they were holed up. She was working with them!" Erica was furious; her hands were claws, ready to rip into something.

Derek growled. "She broke the treaty. The Argents are ours!"

"Wait! She apologized, Derek. She said that she didn't know what they were planning! She was sickened by what they'd done to you. You can't go after her! She wanted us to know how sorry she is!" Scott's voice was desperate.

The alpha slammed Scott against the wall, breaking the key rack. Keys dropped onto the tile, ringing into the brief moment of silence. "Did she know that they tried to kill Stiles? A human! Did she care that killing me would have meant his death? What about her supposed code?"

"They weren't supposed to touch Stiles. That was a mistake. They didn't know that he was human until after they shot him. Allison didn't realize about the bond."

Stiles answered his friend. "They **knew**! They knew that I wasn't a werewolf. After they shot me the first time, I heard them say that I was a useless human who sympathized with the wolves just before they shot me in the chest! They knew, Scott! And whether she realized that taking out Derek would kill me or not, it doesn't matter! We've held up our end of the treaty. She broke it. What we need to find out now is if Chris knows and was part of this."

Scott shook his head and wrenched himself out of Derek's grip. He flung open the door, climbed in his car, and his tires spun gravel as he left. Erica was contemptuous. "I can't believe that he'd still defend her after everything she's done."

Stiles felt tired and way older than his years. "It's always been Allison. He dated and he'd go nuts for other girls at first, but in the end, none of them were Allison." He rubbed his hands through his hair. "I need to call my dad. I want him with me when I talk to Chris."

Derek grabbed his shirt in a clenched fist. "You're not going without me."

Stiles put his hand over Derek's fist. "This is the first time you've spoken a whole sentence in days, Derek. You almost killed Allison before you even knew that she was involved. You would have done it just because she's a hunter, and right now? You're not in control. Erica can come if you're worried. Danny gets off work in an hour. I can see if he can come, too. Maybe Lydia. Safety in numbers, right?" Derek's hand loosened and Stiles brought him in for a hug. "I've got this. Trust me to do this, Derek."

Derek let him go and went upstairs. Stiles watched him walk away. He knew that Derek wasn't angry with him, but this whole thing had messed him up inside. He had too much damage as it was, and this? This had broken it wide open; ripping old emotional wounds open, leaving him raw and bleeding. Stiles wondered if there were psychologists who dealt with werewolves because if there were, he needed to find one.

He turned to Erica. "You up for this?"

"Damn straight, baby. Make your calls. I'll wait." She stalked into the living room while Stiles called people.

An hour and a half later, they were assembled. Derek and Isaac hadn't come downstairs and Scott couldn't be reached. Otherwise, everybody was there. Sheriff Stilinski called Mr. Argent and set up a meeting. The Sheriff hadn't been able to bring charges against the hunters because official police involvement would have been a problem. They couldn't have hid what had been done to Derek and Isaac, or the fact that they were healed only days later. It had meant letting the men who'd shot his son go. If Allison Argent could be held responsible for the attack, he was planning on taking her into custody. If Chris was involved, he was looking at charges too.

The Sheriff, Stiles, Lydia, and Erica would meet with Chris face to face. Danny and Boyd would be scouting the area to make sure it wasn't a trap and that Allison wasn't lying in wait. They pulled up to the abandoned lot and waited. Chris pulled in moments later. He got out slowly, hands up. He approached cautiously and the man nodded at Stiles. "I'm sorry that you got hurt."

"What about Derek and Isaac? Are you sorry about them too?"

Chris sighed. "Yes." The man glanced at Erica. "I made my choice a long time ago. Allison… Gerard twisted something inside her that never healed. Her mother's death, watching her Aunt die…it did something to her. It made her unsure of where the lines were."

Lydia's eyes were hard. "Are you making excuses for her? We've obeyed the treaty, Mr. Argent. She broke it. We're within rights to retaliate without repercussion. Stiles wanted to speak to you as a courtesy to prevent needless bloodshed. There's been far too much of that lately."

"She's all I have left. She's my daughter and we're the only Argents left. Am I supposed to let you kill her? I can't do that!" He appealed to Sheriff Stilinski. "Would you let somebody kill your son?"

"Somebody already tried, Mr. Argent. They knew that Stiles was human and they shot him in the chest. I let them go only because of the circumstances. We're not murderers, Chris, but I want to see justice served. She set them loose on the pack and on my son. She deserves punishment for that."

Chris looked weary, but he nodded at the Sheriff. "I didn't know until after the fact. I want you to know that. I came to the hospital to see Stiles and let him know where Derek was being held. I didn't know about their bond, or what the torture was doing to both of them." Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he came to a decision. "Allison will surrender herself to you, Sheriff Stilinski, on the promise that there will be no retaliation from the pack. She'll accept all charges."

"If she refuses?"

"Then I'll testify against her, even if it means I go down with her."

Stiles stepped forward and Chris' eyes snapped to him. "The treaty is broken. We're not agreeing to it again. I want new terms set up and they won't favor you this time."

The ex-hunter was wary. "Like what?"

"We get to expand the pack, within reason. You warn us when hunters are entering our territory, and you leave us alone! No more breathing down our neck."

Chris stared at him, weighing the situation. "I've been hearing rumors about you. You're behind the pack suddenly getting stronger. It started when you and Derek got together. You've pulled the pack together when everybody was scattered and weak. I underestimated you." Chris watched the pack subtly gather around Stiles. "All right. We'll work up new terms."

He extended a hand to Stiles and they shook on it. Then he offered his hand to the Sheriff. "I'll have her to you by tomorrow morning. Will that be acceptable?"

"Bright and early. I'll be waiting."

"Agreed." The battle worn man nodded at all of them and left.

###

The next morning Allison surrendered to the Sheriff. The official story was that she blamed Derek for revealing her Aunt's role in the murders of his family, and that the stress had caused her mother to commit suicide. Allison had returned to town, hired amateur hit men, and they'd shot the wrong person. She was up on enough charges that she'd probably be in prison for a long time.

Scott still wasn't answering his phone. He wasn't even showing up at work. Isaac was hiding, and Derek refused to speak to anybody. In short, it was a mess. Everything that they'd put together in the last couple of years had been fractured. For the first time in years, Stiles wanted to grab a bottle of whiskey and get himself very drunk.


	5. Chapter 5

**Too High a Price** by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 5 of 10**

Stiles managed to convince Isaac to come with him on future trips with Dr. Morrell. He'd decided to make it Isaac's official job and start paying him for it. That seemed to appeal to the young werewolf, and he smiled for the first time since the hunters had taken him. He even got a little cocky, bandying the title around amongst the pack as Stiles' official body guard.

Scott, who had started coming around again, protested. "Why don't I get paid?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I'll pay you too, but he's still my only full time body guard." He couldn't believe that was his life now; being guarded everywhere he went. "In fact, any time that one of you gets sucked into babysitting me, I'll pay you, ok? That makes it fair. I probably should have done it a while ago, but Derek considers it a pack thing."

"Do you?"

"I consider protecting any of our members a pack thing, yeah. But this is becoming a full time, permanent sort of deal. You should get paid."

Danny had to poke at him a little. "So will you be paying Derek?"

"Hardy har har. Very funny. He wouldn't take it if I tried, and he's got a small fortune anyway."

"He hasn't been around much lately." Danny had been bitten right after graduation, and he'd taken to it well. Between his innately calm personality and the fact that he was a willing adult, the transition had been smooth.

Stiles knew that Derek could hear every word spoken, and that Danny knew it too. "He's been busy." Derek had been avoiding everybody, including Stiles. He was trying to let his mate work things out in his own way, but seemed to involve reverting to silence or growling at anybody who spoke. In the meantime, the pack still had to function and Stiles was doing what he could. Trying to switch subjects, he brought an idea up to the pack. "I want to find a way for my abilities to help our pack gain power, rather than just making me a target. With Allison in jail, maybe it's time to do that."

"What were you thinking of, Stiles?"

Perfect. He'd been hoping to pique Lydia's interest. She was most likely to be able to help him turn his idea into something workable. "I help Dr. Morrell, but what if I bought a store front of some kind at the edge of our territory and used it to provide a service unique to the supernatural community?"

"That's got potential. Any specific ideas?"

"I don't have Dr. Morrell's healing skills, but if we could get Derek or Scott to help out, we could run some sort of clinic to help wounded supernaturals out. Maybe work in conjunction with Dr. Morrell, calling him in for the serious cases. Even if Derek won't help, maybe Dr. Deaton will."

"I'm hoping that if we provide something that very few others can, it would make people less likely to attack the pack."

"Not a bad idea. We'll have to brainstorm later about it." She pulled out a laptop, logged in, and turned it around. "I was hoping to talk to Derek about his investments."

"Are they doing badly?"

"No. In fact, one stock has risen considerably. I was thinking of investing more money because I think this may just be the start. They released a product that is looking to be very popular. It would be a good time to buy stocks."

"Use my money. I've saved some from working with Dr. Morrell. Buy what you can with that."

"Sure. It won't buy a lot of stocks, but that works. I'll let our broker know. I've already bought a bunch myself." She flipped the computer around and started tapping keys. "There. He'll get the message in the morning."

The rest of the pack meeting was filled with chatter and food. There was always food with a pack of hungry werewolves. They avoided discussing Derek or Allison, and ideas were thrown around for Stiles' business. It was a good meeting. It would have been better if Derek had been physically present.

When everybody had gone home and Isaac had gone to his room, Stiles found Derek in the back yard. "They miss you." Only silence greeted him. "I miss you." Still nothing. He sat down facing Derek. "This is worse than high school, Derek. At least you tried then. Right now you're not even doing that." Stiles shoulders slumped when he didn't get anything, not a single reaction. He stood up, hugged his still unresponsive mate, and walked inside.

He checked on Isaac and his dad. Both were asleep. Feeling restless and not wanting to disturb anybody, he went for a drive. Somehow, he ended up in front of the Argent's house. It was late and there was no reason for Chris to be up, but the light was on. Stiles pulled in and wasn't surprised when the door opened. With nothing better to do, he got out and went in.

The two men stood in awkward silence until Chris remembered his manners and offered Stiles a drink. He took it and rattled the ice around in his glass. "I'm not sure why I'm here." Might as well be honest.

Chris smiled without humor. "You haven't come to rub it in?"

"Rub what in? None of us won this thing! Derek's like a ghost. He eats, he sleeps, he showers, but he's not there. Isaac still jumps at loud noises, but I have hope that he'll be okay. He finally smiled today. That's a start. But really? There's nothing to 'rub in'. Derek's lost his entire family. So have you. So let's think? Who won? _Nobody_!"

Chris waved at him to sit down. "This is how it's always been."

"It didn't have to be. You talked about your code, but you never lived it. We were never the monsters you accused us of being. We're just trying to survive."

"I know."

Stiles sipped on his drink. "Good stuff."

"Thanks." Chris paused and then decided to speak. "You say "us" and "we". You're human. They're not."

Stiles snorted. "It's been 'us' and 'we' since the day Scott was bitten. He was my best friend before I had anybody else. We grew up together and no matter what, we're like brothers. If it had been me who'd been bitten, he'd have helped me. That's just how it is."

"What about Derek?"

"What about him? He's my mate."

"He's hit you a few times, hasn't he?"

"Back when I was an obnoxious kid, yeah. He never really hurt me, though. You did."

Chris conceded the point. "True."

"In fact, I recall that the geriatric old man who kidnapped me and beat me up was your father. Your wife hit a sixteen year old kid with her car and then tried to poison him. The man who took me hostage and tried to kill another sixteen year old kid trapped in a jail cell? One of your hunters. The woman who killed a whole family, including humans and children? Your sister." He tapped the glass to his chin. "I think I'm sensing a trend here."

"The line between human and monster blurs after a while." The older man downed his drink. "Call me Chris."

"What?"

"Call me Chris. We have enough history. You've earned that right."

They sat for a while, nothing being said. Stiles finished his scotch. "Well, Chris, it's late. Thanks for the drink."

They shook hands, feeling like something intangible was settling between them. Stiles wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like something positive. Chris saw him to the door, and he drove home. Stiles fell asleep that night thinking about redemption.

###

Isaac got a chance to act as an official bodyguard later that week. Nobody else was free and Derek still wasn't responding, so just the two of them went with Dr. Morrell. Isaac did great, and Stiles was proud of him. The wolf was still a little jumpy but he was making definite progress.

Stiles took this time to run his idea past Dr. Morrell. "Hey doc! Would it be poaching on your territory to open up shop and start treating the supernatural community for the things that Scott and I could handle? Maybe have you on speed dial if somebody showed up with something bad?"

Matt smiled. "That's a fantastic idea. There's far more need than I can possibly meet alone. In fact, I often only treat the most serious issues. Having a place to get treated for more easily treated maladies would be a definite help to the community. Let me know if you do it, I'll start spreading the word."

"Awesome! Thanks. We're still in the idea stage but I think it could work."

The day went smoothly. Since Isaac enjoyed this and Derek wasn't exactly arguing, Stiles decided to go back to having one wolf escorting him. He was pretty sure that their victory over the other wolves had spread, and others were afraid to take them on. Two wolves on hand hadn't prevented the hunters from taking them, in fact it just gave them an extra wolf to torture. So, he decided, it would be one bodyguard. If Derek didn't like it, he could either say so or join them.

Periodically, when Derek continued to vacillate between silence and growling, Stiles found himself at Chris' house. He couldn't figure out why he went. One day Chris told him, "We're humans surviving in a world that we were never meant to be a part of." Then it struck him, Chris understood. He knew exactly how frightening and dangerous the world Stiles lived in was, and he understood it from a human perspective. He understood their own frailty in comparison to what they were up against, he understood the pain and loss. They'd come at it from different sides, but the harshness of their experiences were the same.

Stiles was working as often as Dr. Morrell needed him. Since healing could always use a boost, that was often. Isaac had loosened up and seemed to have recovered from his torture fully. Derek was still the same. Stiles would sit with him every night whether he was growling or silent, and tell him about his day. He even told him about his conversations with Chris, hoping for some reaction, but there was none. Sometimes he wondered how much a person could take before they broke, and wondered if this had been what broke Derek. It was hard to have a life filled with more pain and angst than the alpha had endured, and if anybody was entitled to a breakdown, it was definitely Derek. Thankfully he hadn't been violent since Allison. Just in case, though, Stiles carried a small vial in his pocket. With it, he could hopefully knock Derek out without hurting him.

Stiles was heading to Chris' house the next time an attempt was made to take him. He'd taken to stopping by late at night without Isaac, and that he realized, had been a mistake. It wasn't unusual for cars to be on the road late at night. It was highly suspect when the car kept taking all the turns after him. Stiles thought that the people following him needed a crash course in stealth 101.

Stiles thought through his choices and continued to the Argents. His best shot was there. The young man waited until the final few streets before putting on a burst of speed. He screeched into the driveway. He hoped he had enough time to get inside.

Chris had heard the jeep scream into his driveway and was already at the door. When he saw Stiles scrambling to get in and the car pulling in, he pulled his gun. He pushed Stiles through the door and locked it. "Who are they?"

"No clue. Take your pick. I've had everything from psi vamps, werewolves, cultists, magic users, faeries, and 'normal' humans who decided they wanted me. It could be any of the above. Last time it was some thirty odd werewolves in a freaking battle royale that Allison joined in on. Welcome to my party!"

Chris was carefully looking through a peephole in the door. "They're sitting there." He pointed to the coffee table. "Press up underneath the table. There are guns in there."

"Seriously? That's so James Bond that it's kind of cool." He followed instructions and upon pushing up, he heard a click. A panel dropped and three guns and spare ammo were tucked away. He pulled them all out. He brought them to Chris. "Here."

The ex-hunter eyed him. "Pick one. Use it."

"I don't know how to use a gun."

Chris looked like he'd been hit in the head. "You can't use a gun?! You're the Sheriff's son and you run with a pack of werewolves. How have you survived?"

"Luck, sarcasm, and blinding wit?"

"Take one. They're moving."

"Probably not a good idea. The last time I handled a weapon was in high school and I almost shot Scott with it." He did tuck one into his pocket, just in case. "Any clue what they are?"

"They don't move quite right to be human. More fluid. I'd say shape shifter of some kind. Might be wolf. They're the most common. Wolfsbane bullets will work. Aconite is poisonous no matter the species."

Stiles grabbed his backpack. "If they're supernatural, I have something that works better for me than bullets." Chris just watched him, face neutral. The young man grabbed several bottles out of the pack. "I need a bandolier or something for these things. Maybe a belt with loops. A bandolier would be cooler though. I should alert the pack. Hold on."

As he was pulling out the cell phone, something slammed into the door. It held. At Stiles surprised look, Chris shrugged. "Steel frame and steel core. Specially modified."

"Nice. I'll have to see about that for the house." His fingers were furiously texting and he hit the send button. "We'll have back up in about fifteen minutes, give or take."

"Great. Move back, we're easy targets here." They slid back towards the stairs. Chris turned sideways to keep an eye on threats from both the second story and the first floor. Breaking glass could be heard from the kitchen. "They're in."

Stiles grabbed a handful of powder. "How many were there?"

"Four that I saw. Never count on that being all of them."

A man rounded the corner, still looking human. "No need to fight, Argent. We just want Mr. Stilinski."

"Pretty bold move, breaking into the house of a hunter." Chris was cool, showing no sign of stress.

"There's only one of you, even if you are an Argent."

Stiles could see movement above them. "My pack is on its way."

"Supernatural hearing, mate. I know that we have at least ten minutes left. Plenty of time." As he spoke, the one above jumped. Stiles threw powder at it and he heard Chris fire. His... whatever it was… dropped with a thud onto the stairs and almost landed on them. The guy who'd been speaking had dodged Chris' bullet and was now lunging up the stairs, with another person behind him. Stiles threw a bunch of powder at them, some of it sprinkling on Chris. _Bind!_ Chris didn't react but the two were creatures did. They froze and dropped.

Stiles didn't have time to cheer because suddenly Chris' gun was aimed in his direction and he fired. Something hit him from behind and he lost concentration momentarily. The three wolves that were bound started moving. Crap!

The first one that he'd taken down was partially trapped under the man that Chris had shot. The other two were coming straight at them and Stiles fumbled with the stopper. Chris took out one, and the other grabbed Stiles' arm and yanked him forward. Using him as a shield, the were-person stepped backwards. "Now, now. We'll just take him and go."

Stiles timed pulling the stopper with being dragged down a step to disguise his movements. He splashed the vial onto the hand holding him and willed _sleep_. Unfortunately, the were-person did fall asleep, but he took Stiles backwards with him. This time he made sure not to lose concentration.

The fourth wolf was on Chris, and the hunter had pulled a knife from somewhere. With a savage jerk, he cut the man's throat. He turned and looked at Stiles and then at the wolf he'd knocked out. "Dead?"

"No. Asleep. The stuff I used on him is hard to find. Crap. Getting more will be a pain. Supposedly I can do this without using components, but my brain is convinced it needs them as a focus. Or so I'm told."

"I'll ask about that later. For now, kill it or interrogate it?"

Stiles thought. "I guess that's your call. I'm pretty sure it's the same running theme: they want me because I'm a spark. Same old, same old."

With that, Chris put a bullet in its head.

Stiles had to be smart ass. "Hardwood floors. Makes it easier to clean blood."

"Yes."

"Holy crap. I was kidding!"

"I wasn't." Chris was smirking at him, so he wasn't sure if he was serious or not. "We need to see if this was it, if there are more."

They swept the second floor and cleared it, moving back down to the first floor. Cars began pulling into the driveway. Stiles recognized the cruiser. "Dad and the pack are here." He met them at the door. "We're ok!"

His dad was at the door first. "Since when have you been hanging out with Argent?" then he spotted the gun hanging out of Stiles' pocket. "Son, you are not good with weapons. Can I have that please?"

"Actually it's Chris' gun." He handed it back to the man.

Sheriff Stilinski gave Chris a sober look. "You have no idea how dangerous he is with a weapon. You are much better off keeping him unarmed, believe me. I tried teaching him to shoot once. Never again."

The rest of the pack filed in. Including…Derek. That was unexpected.


	6. Chapter 6

**Too High a Price** by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

_Second in the Magic's Call series_

_###_

**Notes from the author**: I want to thank everybody for their reviews! I love feedback, so tell me what you like, and what you don't! (Hopefully in a nice way, though)

I did want to address a couple of points quickly: I am taking Chris (and Allison) in a different direction than normal, and I am sorry of that upsets any people who love Allison. (btw…some of the plot with Allison comes back around in a chapter I just worked on, and will be posting in a few days.) As to Chris, it's too easy to play him as simply a hunter, and I did that in a short piece that I wrote. However, as played on the show, his character is deeper than that. I wanted to play with that and bring it out more.

Oh…I know that there's been a lot of drama and angst, and that continues in this chapter, but there are some definite lighter notes in future chapters!

###

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 6 of 10**

Derek had left the house. Stiles peered around him to look in the driveway. He had driven his car. To the Argents. Holy Mother of God, this was practically a miracle! Stiles stared at him and tried to get some sense of his mood. He wasn't picking up much, but then the link had been kind of grey and hazy lately. Not gone or shut down, just kind of…murky.

Derek's face was blank, but he did gently turn his mate around and shut the door behind him. Huh. This was a definite improvement. Then he was being herded inside further. The alpha twitched at seeing the bodies, but said nothing. Chris knew the state the man had been in lately and he gave Stiles a questioning look. He could only shrug back helplessly. He had no clue.

Erica had moved to check the were-people. "They smell like rot. Swamp."

Boyd sniffed. "They smell kind of like Jackson did in his kanima stage. Probably some sort of were-lizard."

Chris grabbed a body and headed to the garage. "We need to get rid of these in case somebody heard the gunshots."

Stiles lurched forward, stopping him. "Do you have a good spot to burn them?"

"It would take hours to burn a body through, Stiles. Even then, we'd be left with bone fragments and teeth."

"No. I have a way to do it."

The man was obviously curious. He changed course and headed out towards the back. The wolves all pitched in, grabbed bodies, and began clean up. It struck Stiles what it meant about their lives that body clean ups were standard fare. There was something sort of depressing about that. He knew that these people had attacked them, but each of the people that been killed probably had a family somewhere; a family wondering why they never came home.

Out back, the bodies were in a clear spot. Stiles grabbed his bottle and poured the oil. "Do you have a way for me to light this a bit farther back? Last time I almost became a bit crispy."

They ended up rigging together a long stick with a rag at the end. He lit the rag, stood back, and did his thing. Again there was the feeling of air rushing into the area, fire flaring high, and burning quickly out. Within a few minutes, there was nothing but ashes. Chris' only comment was, "Handy."

Scott and Danny had been busy inside, cleaning up all traces of blood from the stairs. Stiles could only assume that Scott had known where the cleaning supplies were kept. He didn't want to think about that too much. This had to be rough for Scott; being here in the Argent's home and knowing that Allison was in jail.

Everybody started filtering out, trying to salvage some sleep for the night. Erica had grumbled a little. "Stilinski, only you would need to call us in the middle of the night. Next time, visit people during normal hours, will you?"

Only Derek, Stiles, Sheriff Stilinski, and Isaac were left. They sat in the living room. Derek had yet to actually speak, but he'd gone everywhere Stiles had. Right now, he had the younger man pulled into his side, muscular arm draped across Stiles' shoulders.

Isaac was standing behind Derek and Stiles, like a guard. He watched Chris warily. Stiles turned a little, to look up at him. "It's ok. He's my friend."

Both the Sheriff and Chris looked a little startled at that, but Chris smiled. "I guess we are. How odd."

Stiles dad was obviously confused. "I'm missing something."

"I ended up here one night. I'm still not sure why. We realized that we have some things in common, and he understands what it is to survive in this world as a human. He knows how much it costs. We hang out and chat sometimes."

Chris shrugged. "He shows up. We talk."

After that, it was meaningless chatter. The late night and the adrenaline crash were starting to hit Stiles. He was half asleep against Derek's side when the alpha pulled him up. The werewolf held his hand out to Chris. "Thank you."

The older man nodded and shook hands, and bid them a good night. Sheriff Stilinski made his goodbyes as well, and the three of them headed out to the cars. Stiles took note of the fact that the car of the were-whatevers was gone. He could only assume that the pack had taken care of it. Without really being aware of it, he'd ended up in the passenger seat of the Camaro and was buckled in. He didn't quite remember that.

Stiles dozed on the way home. At one point, he remembered mumbling, "Welcome back, Sour wolf."

###

Stiles had only been asleep for a few hours when Dr. Morrell called. He fumbled for his cell phone. "Mmyeah?"

"Stiles, I need you as soon as possible. Can you meet me at Dr. Deaton's clinic?"

"Uhh..ok. Need. Um. A shower." He yawned, almost falling back asleep with the phone to his ear.

"This is critical, Stiles. Alan and Scott are on their way. I need you here as soon as possible so that we can leave."

Matt's urgency filtered through his sleep deprived brain. "Ok. Sorry. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I'm on my way."

He hung up and stumbled out of bed. Fishing out clothes that weren't blood spattered, he threw them on and brushed his teeth. Derek was a half-step behind him. He knocked on Isaac's door and the werewolf got up without complaint. When they got to the clinic; Dr. Morrell, Dr. Deaton, and Scott were all waiting. "Load up. I'll explain on the way."

Dr. Morrell got them all loaded in a large SUV. The back area was full of supplies. "We've got a family of dryads struck down by an illness. I have no idea what it is right now. The symptoms aren't making a lot of sense."

The group drove for a long ways, Stiles falling back to sleep for a while. He woke when the road became bumpy. Looking outside, he realized that they were on a dirt road running through heavy forest. They stopped in front of a large house that was in the middle of nothing but trees. Everybody piled out and grabbed gear.

Dr. Morrell went first, and the door was opened by a young man. He ushered them in, and Stiles noted that despite the appearance of a normal house on the outside, the walls were living wood. Leaves sprouted from the panels and small vines snaked everywhere. In a large room, women of all ages lay on pallets on the floor. The youngest appeared to be only six or seven, while the oldest had ash grey hair and was gnarled with age. Another man attended to the women, helping them sip water and making them comfortable.

Matt began careful examination of the ill, ten in total. The affliction had only hit the women, those who were actually dryads. Of the fathers and sons in the family, who were human, none were sick. He sent Stiles outside to examine the forest, and most specifically the dryad's own trees. Stiles had no idea which trees were which, but he was assured that he'd know them when he found them.

Derek, still sticking with Stiles, followed him out into the woods. Stiles started talking. "I'm not sure what we're looking for, exactly. Dryads are tree nymphs and they look after the forest. Nice forest, too, by the way. They must be doing a good job. So I'm looking for trees that are the nymphs'. How in the hell am I supposed to tell one tree from another? I don't know oak from ash, or hemlock, or poison oak, for that matter."

They'd been trekking around in a large area close to the house when Derek grabbed his shoulder and pointed. Several large trees were visible. Stiles grabbed laid his own hand over Derek's. "Thanks. And thanks for coming." Then he was taking off in the direction of the trees.

The whole area felt different. Special, somehow. The trees were majestic, some of them quite old. One was a sapling, not much bigger around than his wrist. "Wow. This is just… Amazing! Look at these!" He was running his hand over the rough bark and he could feel the magic in them. Then he touched the oldest one it was like he could feel the weight of its years, time stamping its weight into the roots and limbs and becoming a tangible thing.

The trees also felt off, though. The leaves were slightly yellowed, some curled at the edges. One tree was dropping its leaves and when Stiles touched it, he jerked back. "Woah! That was weird!"

He touched it again, more cautious this time. "Ok. Huh…" Then he began to circle around the base of the tree. Kneeling, he pushed away leaves and then started digging at a spot in the ground. He pulled out a tiny stone dart, no longer than an inch or two. "Weird. It feels slimy. Ugh!"

Tree after tree, he found those pieces of flint. By the tree least affected the ground was still soft where the dart had been placed, indicating that it had been set there recently. The feel of them in his hand was making him a little sick. "We need to get these back to Dr. Morrell." He looked around. "Crap. I have no idea which way it is back to the house."

Derek gave him a smirk and started walked. Stiles followed behind, and soon they were back. The young man looked at the house and looked at the stone pieces in his hand, and didn't think that it was a good idea to take them inside. "Derek, I need you to get Dr. Morrell. I don't want to take these in there. I don't know what they will do to the house, or what'll happen if they get too close to the dryads."

The alpha went up the steps and knocked. The same young man opened the door and motioned Derek inside. He refused, looking back at his mate, so Stiles resorted to yelling. "I need Dr. Morrell. Can you send him out please?"

After the young man went inside, leaving the door open, Stiles glared at Derek. "Ok, look. I'm really glad that you are out of the house and here. It's fantastic! Really. But can you please use your words? Granted, your facial expressions and eyebrows have a language all their own, but words are important!" Amusement filtered down the line. It was the first real, actual emotion that he'd felt in a while. "Oh my god. You're doing this on purpose. You find this funny! I cannot believe you!"

By this time. Dr. Morrell and Allan had stepped outside. "What did you find?"

Stiles opened his hand and held out the flint pieces. All three men were coming towards him, but when Dr. Deaton realized what Stiles was holding, he looked alarmed. "Stiles! Drop those now!"

Derek was at Stiles side in a bound, knocking them out of his mate's hand, Stiles having been slow to respond. Matt headed to the SUV. "I have silk in here."

Meanwhile, Deaton was questioning Stiles. "How are you feeling? Did they make you sick or cause any pain?"

"Well, they made me feel a little sick to my stomach, yeah, but no big deal."

"Are you still nauseous?"

"Um. A little. I'm okay. Really." He smiled at Deaton. "I'm fine."

The vet ignored him and grabbed Stiles' hands, turning them over. "Did any of them pierce your skin?" A bloodless slice was on Stiles palm. Deaton yelled to Dr. Morrell. "He was cut!"

Derek and Stiles were both looking a little alarmed, neither having any idea what was going on or what the big deal was. Dr. Morrell had come back with silk cloth in his hand and used it to carefully scoop up and wrap the tiny darts. "Those are elfshot. They're used to sicken and mortally wound enemies. We need to talk to the dryads, see if they know why somebody would have hit the trees with elfshot. Were these in the trees themselves?"

"No. They were buried in the dirt next to the trunks."

The vet nodded. "Actually, that makes sense. A healthy tree that hosts a dryad would be resistant to something of that nature. By placing it in the soil, they could poison the soil and indirectly destroy the tree."

Stiles was still stuck on the whole 'mortally wounded' bit. "Wait, wait, wait. Go back. Did you say 'sicken and mortally wound'? Does that mean all the dryads are going to die?"

Matt responded, "Not if we can help it. Let's go inside. We need to treat your hand immediately."

"Am I going to die? You know, since I got cut with one of these things?"

"Not if we can help it. Now go inside!" Considering that Matt was always terribly patient with Stiles, his order was kind of scary. Ok, a lot scary. Stiles obeyed and hustled up the steps.

Once inside, Deaton went to talk to the Dryads and Matt started digging through his kit. Then he rooted through Deaton's herbs. He packed the cut with herbs and bandaged it. Then he boiled pots of water, and added those herbs in. Every time Stiles asked him about it, the doctor would shake his head and reply, "I'll tell you after."

Not knowing what was going on was putting him on the verge of a panic attack. He didn't like this. Deaton came out and the conversation distracted him. It turned out that unclaimed tracts of untouched woodlands were increasingly rare in North America. A group of unseelie fae (how many times was Stiles going to run into unseelie fae? Could he never meet one of the nicer ones? Really?) wanted this area, and the dryads were firmly ensconced here. They could only guess that the fae had decided to get rid of the dryads so that they could have the area.

The pots of herbed water were finally cooled, and Dr. Morrell pulled everybody together, including the mates and sons of the wood nymphs. "This is going to be unpleasant. I won't lie and sugar coat this, some of the dryads may die, but there is no other cure. Each person will drink a cup of this mixture. The rest needs to be poured as evenly as possible over the roots of their trees. Stiles, you are getting treated last. I need you to oversee the trees. You need to pour this mixture into the spots that you dug out the darts. Then you'll need to visualize the treatment cleansing the soil and trees. You have to see it in your minds eye and you have to _believe_, Stiles. This is critical."

He ladled out eleven cups of the liquid, and then directed everybody to take the rest out to the trees. One boy ran back and forth and told the people inside the house which tree they were working on. They dosed the dryad at the same time as Stiles treated the tree. Each tree, Stiles poured, and willed, and believed. He could almost feel the struggle as the antidote worked against the poison.

He was sweating by the time they reached the tree that was losing leaves. There were only three left, and this one was next. He poured the liquid and did his thing, only this time, it wasn't going well. He believed and pushed his will outward, trying to get the tree to heal. Leaves rustled overhead, dropping faster. The wood began to groan and creek, and Stiles kept trying. He tried pouring more antidote, being careful to save enough for the last two trees. He kept trying, almost dropping to his knees in effort, and he vaguely felt Derek holding him upright. He fought to save the tree and the dryad, but ultimately, not even Stiles could do it. The tree made a sigh, like wind through the leaves, and then it began to disintegrate.

Stiles stood and mourned. He had no idea which Dryad had just died, only that it wasn't the oldest or the youngest. The boy who was with them cried. Dust floated in the air, and they stood until the tree was no more. Only a bare patch of earth was left where a beautiful tree had once stood. Dryads could live centuries, and this one had probably lived only a few decades.

Stiles moved on, determined to save the final two. The last was another struggle, but he refused to stop. He felt it start to slip away, and he threw everything he was into saving it. He could hear Derek calling him, feel his mate's energy flow into him, and he threw it all into the fight. Dimly he heard the creaking and groaning of the tree. With a last shove, the medicine combined with Stiles' magic overcame the poison, and the tree survived.

When awareness of his physical body came back, he was on the ground being cradled by his mate. Leaves covered everything, including them. The boy was staring at Stiles', and then he ran back with the message that it was done. Standing on shaking legs, Stiles went back to the house for his turn.

Judging from the exhaustion lining the faces of everybody in the house, Stiles could only guess that the healing done from this end was just as hard as what he'd done. Dr. Morrell's face was grim as he had Stiles rest against Derek. He looked at the werewolf. "He hasn't had prolonged contact with the elfshot, but it has pierced his skin. I'm not sure what difference that will make. If he's like the rest, you are going to have to hold him." Then he handed the cup to Stiles.

Stiles drank it and almost gagged. "You need to add honey to this or something because ugh! This is awful!" He was trying to get the taste off of his tongue and making funny faces when the pain hit. It doubled him over, and Derek was caught off guard. He had to pull his mate back into him, just to keep Stiles from pitching onto his face. Another wave hit and it left Derek cursing because Stiles' head jerked back, catching him in the nose. He felt blood drip before it healed fully.

He could sense the agony flowing down the link as the herbal mixture fought with the poison. Dr. Morrell sat on his heels, lips in a thin line as he watched and waited. Deaton stood in the doorway, and Isaac inched forward to be next to the pair. One minute became ten, and then twenty, all the while Stiles was convulsing. Derek could smell the fear on Dr. Morrell and knew that this was too long. Heedless of the audience, Derek murmured into his mate's ear, "I can't lose you. I can't. Don't do this to me, Stiles. Please don't. I can handle everything else, but not this."

Despite another wracking wave of agony, Stiles hand clutched at Derek's. At times, Derek thought Stiles might actually break his fingers because he was gripping so tightly. Derek kept speaking to his mate, not even keeping track of what he was saying. The convulsions slowed and finally stopped. Stiles rested his head on Derek's shoulder and the alpha held him, listening to his heart. Dr. Morrell gave a quick smile and Derek could see the relief wash over Isaac and Dr. Deaton.

Stiles and the Dryads rested, while somebody ran out for food for everybody else. There was tears and sadness for the dryad they'd lost, but quiet joy for the ones they'd saved.


	7. Chapter 7

**Too High a Price **by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

A(nother) note from the author: I was asked why I wrote Derek the way I have in the previous chapters. The reason is that in times of stress, people revert to default behaviors. Derek's default is to shut people out. Throw him into a situation that mirrors the past and brings up trauma, he's most likely to push people away.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 7 of ?**

It was hard to believe that it was only just after noon. The last twenty four hours had been...interesting. Stiles understood now why the Chinese considered it a curse to wish for somebody to live in interesting times. At this rate, Derek and his dad were going to wrap him in cotton batting, install him in a safely padded room, and never let him out.

Derek was hovering protectively. While Stiles was glad that a)Derek was being actively involved and b) was actually speaking, he could do without being smothered. He'd mastered the art of walking, mostly, when he was a toddler. He really didn't think that he needed an escort whose hand was locked on his elbow at all times.

Of course, from Derek's perspective, Stiles was lucky that he was even letting him up and around. In the past twelve hours an attempt had been made to take him, the spark had exhausted himself saving the dryads, and he'd been poisoned with elfshot. None of those things were good for Stiles' wellbeing and safety. Or for Derek's level of comfort with the situation.

That being said, it was impossible for Stiles to not be in the thick of things. The living dryads were still gravely ill. They were no longer dying, but still not well. It would take many seasons for the dryads and their trees to make a full recovery. Steps had to be taken to prevent the attack from happening again. In that effort, iron nails were being purchased and would be pushed into the ground in a ring around the grove. Another ring would be made around the house. Iron was poisonous to all fae, and this would create a barrier that should prevent them from causing more mischief.

Derek didn't want Stiles traipsing about in the woods , a sentiment backed up by Dr. Morrell. Lacking that avenue to direct his attention, Stiles decided to help take care of the dryads. The first moment that Derek felt Stiles using his powers, though, he yanked him back. Stiles glared at him and stomp-wobbled away. Instead he went to help in the kitchen where the man who was cooking shooed him away nicely, but firmly. He settled on the porch outside, watching nails get pounded into the ground.

Dr. Deaton found him there. Derek stood back by the corner, watching his mate, but not interfering. Alan sat with Stiles. "You helped save those people in there, Stiles."

"One still died."

Deaton sighed. "It's not possible to save everyone. It's something you face regularly as a vet, or as a doctor. It's something that you've faced before, and you'll deal with it again. Without you, we would have lost all but a few of them. Instead, we only lost one. That's a good thing, Stiles."

The young man looked out into the forest. "I want to be doing something."

"You've done your part. Let us handle the rest."

"Why don't I get a right to decide?"

Deaton thought about that question. "This is about more than today, isn't it?"

Stiles laughed bitterly. "When did my life stop being my own? Every choice I make narrows my life down further! I needed money and thought that helping people would be great. Now, I can't even go for a drive or visit a friend without requiring supervision! I have to have a full time body guard. I can't use my degree because doing so would put my students in danger. Just existing puts my pack in danger!"

Deaton saw Derek start to move forward and shook his head. Stiles needed to vent this. He asked, "Is that how you see this?"

"It's like my entire life has narrowed down to one thing, and every choice revolves around that now. The whole pack is focused on that. They've fought and bled, been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, and even Chris got sucked into it. All because I made the decision to help Dr. Morrell. One thing; and it's cascaded into having taken over my life. It seems like this is all I'm good for now, and if that's how it is, I want to make it count. I want it to have been worth it!"

"You don't see yourself as having self-worth outside of your ability?"

"That's not it! Well, maybe. It's just that I made one choice, you know? One. I had no idea the shit storm that would happen because of it." Stiles stood up. He wandered into the woods towards the direction of the dryad's grove. "Everybody got dragged into this. I'm helping all these other people, but what has it done for the pack? When Derek was lost in his own head, I couldn't help him. I couldn't make Isaac feel better. They've all been shot, clawed, and hurt for me... That's not how it's supposed to be."

"Then tell me how you think it's supposed to be."

"I don't know, but it's not this. I'm supposed to help the pack. Make it stronger. I shouldn't be adding to the danger they face."

Stiles dropped himself onto the bare patch of dirt where the dryad's tree once was. Deaton leaned against one of the trees. "I think you're focusing too much on the negative"

"Derek's been rubbing off on me.", Stiles joked.

"I think that's exactly what has happened." The alpha shot him a look from where he stood, still just behind Stile's range of vision. Deaton addressed this to both of them. "You influence each other. All couples do. With your unique bond, though, that's magnified. Derek sank into depression and it's dragged you both down. It's why you unconsciously sought support. You went to Chris Argent, knowing that he understood how you were feeling. Derek may have snapped out of it because of the immediate crisis, but that doesn't mean that it's gone. It still underlies everything that both of you think and feel."

Stiles tipped his head back to look at the sky and caught a glimpse of Derek behind him."Creeper. How long have you been there?"

"The entire time."

"Well, that's just fantastic." He scuffed at the dirt with the toe of his sneaker. He asked Deaton, "Fine. So what do we do about it?"

"It's not going to go away overnight, but I think it would be a start for the two of you to spend some time together doing something fun and relaxing. Spend some time bonding with the pack. Take a break."

"That's a little hard to do when people keep coming at us."

"Work around it, Stiles. You've always been good at improvising and rolling with things. Use that skill."

###

He thought about it for the next several days and came up with several plans. Step 1: Pack bonding time.

He asked everybody to clear the following Saturday. He wouldn't tell anybody what he had planned, though he did say that no computers were allowed. When everybody arrived, they were sorted and shuffled into various vehicles and descended as a group on the local grocery store. Bags (and bags) of food were bought, loaded, and trundled home. Everybody, including Lydia, was expected to pitch in.

Derek hadn't done much cooking since the worst of this crap had started, and it was nice to see him in the kitchen again. Since Stiles hadn't made a menu and they'd just bought whatever groceries the pack had thrown into the cart, he sorted through and decided on an italian meal. He was working on the sauce while Stiles worked on roasting garlic for garlic bread. The rest worked on a salad.

The food fight started when Scott tossed a tomato slice into the bowl and missed, hitting Erica. It quickly devolved into vegetables flying back and forth across the kitchen. Derek turned and glared, giving up when Stiles caught him in the face with half a head of lettuce. He covered the pot with a lid, turned it down to low, and entered the fray. Using his claws, he caught a partially peeled cucumber that went flying by. It got flung back in pieces, covering half the pack in cucumber bits.

Stiles had grabbed a cutting board, using it as a shield, and was flinging radishes at unsuspecting targets. He'd wait until they were occupied with somebody else and peg them right in the head. After several such instances, Scott got wise to the tactic and pretended to look away. When the radish came at him, he hit it back. It arched over the cutting board, catching Stiles.

Stiles responded with a volley of radishes, emptying the bag. Boyd dove, catching a bunch of them, before sliding to a stop by the fridge. He flung them from below, catching people off guard and even nailing Erica right under the chin. Meanwhile, Lydia had disappeared over the back of the kitchen's island. When she came up, she had a colander full of carrot pieces and chopped onion. She'd fling onion right in a werwolf's face, stinging their noses with its sharp odor, and then bombard them with carrot chunks. She caught Danny and Scott with this. She tried it on Derek but he ducked, coming at her with celery sticks. Under the carrots she'd hidden several handfuls of diced onion, and she tossed them at Derek in a spray and darted away.

Danny, seizing the opportunity, scooped up loose vegies from the floor and lobbed them at the alpha. From then on, it was a race to see who could pelt Derek with more food before he got them. By the time they were worn out and laughing, the whole kitchen was covered in bits of vegetables. The salad idea had to be scrapped, and they went instead with grilled peppers and squash, since those hadn't gotten obliterated in the food war.

Sheriff Stilinski and Mrs. McCall had waited out the food fight, watching in amusement as the rest went at it. They'd gone ahead and set up the back yard with plates and drinks. As the pack cleaned up and continued cooking, they sat back with a glass of wine and talked. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that most of the pack was only in their mid-twenties. Life had been so serious of late and it was nice to relax.

When food was done, they all moved outside, enjoying the late summer afternoon. They swam in the pool, ate lots of food, soaked in the hot tub, and played frisbee. Stiles was yelling at Scott for using his wolf powers while playing. Some things never changed, it seemed. He grinned and threw it back to Scott anyway. Warm contentment filled him. It had been too long since the pack had spent time together just to have fun. He made a note to make sure that they did this more often.

###

Step two had to wait until after the latest crisis. Luckily it wasn't anyone trying to kidnap him or people dying. Allison had pleaded guilty to hiring a hit man. Since nobody was killed, she'd been looking at two to twenty four years, but her attorney had cited mental illness during the sentencing phase. He showed two psychologist reports showing that she'd suffered a mental break following the loss of the structured environment she'd enjoyed at college. They also brought up her mother's 'history of depression' and ultimate suicide. With no previous legal history of violence, positive character witnesses in the form of her college professors, and the testimony of the psychologists; she was given probation and mandatory counseling.

Allison was required to stay away from Derek and Stiles. She wasn't prohibited from seeing Scott, though. She'd been out less than four hours when she showed up at his house. "Scott, before you get mad, I want to say I'm sorry. I really am."

He gazed at her, still seeing the girl he loved. "You know that won't matter to the pack, right? You almost killed Stiles. You'd have let them torture Derek and Isaac. You lied to me! You said that the hunters didn't know that Stiles was human, and they did. He heard them. I don't know what else you've lied about, Allison. I'm not sure I can tell the difference."

"I know that what I did was wrong. It's why I went to Derek's house. I really did want to apologize and to let him know that I'd never do it again. It's just that the pack has been getting so strong, and I felt it was still my duty to keep them in check. It was wrong, Scott. I know that!"

"You let those hunters in to have Derek killed! Do you think they would have stopped with him? That's not what hunters do! They would have gone after every single one of us. They would have killed Stiles and his dad, maybe even my mom!"

The young woman hung her head. "I know. I should have remembered what it was like. It's never been how I envisioned it in my head. It's so ugly, and I have no idea what side I'm supposed to be on! I'm done. Really done. I can't be involved or I'll end up in jail. But I want you to know that I never stopped loving you...and that I'm sorry. Scott, I'm sorry. Okay?"

Scott's heart was broken and he watched her walk away. It felt like forever that he'd been caught between loving Allison and protecting his pack. They never seemed to find the balance, that zone that would allow him to have both. He was reminded of lyrics he'd heard once from some band she'd liked, "_He was torn between his honor and the true love of his life. He prayed for both but was denied._" That was how he felt. He was glad that she wasn't spending her life behind bars, but she wouldn't be spending it with him either.

Later, much later, after he'd run a long time through the wood; he told the pack what she'd said. Stiles said that Chris had called and that Allison was moving back to where she'd gone to college. She had friends and a life there, and that the courts had allowed that. She'd be gone by the end of the week.

At least Derek hadn't gone crazy at the mention of Allison. He hadn't said much actually. As Scott was leaving, his alpha brushed by and whispered, "I'm sorry." That was it. Nothing more, but it was enough. Derek understood what Allison meant to him and had acknowledged that.

The whole pack was understandably tense until she was gone, but Stiles held a movie night anyway. He popped popcorn and ordered pizza, even letting his dad have some, even if it was vegetarian. They watched a cheesy horror movie and topped the night off with classic sci fi. It felt good that none of this had broken them. Any of them. Stiles wouldn't let it.

###

Step two: commencing! Take Derek on a date.

Trying to go somewhere without an escort of two wolves was almost impossible, but this was supposed to just be the two of them. Stiles compromised. Instead of going out, he sent Isaac out to spend time with Scott, and he cooked dinner. He made sure that the steak was sufficiently bleeding for Derek, while his was a bit better cooked. He didn't bother with candles or wine. Instead, the two of them sat out under the stars.

It felt good in way that things hadn't in a long time. They sat close, saying nothing as they ate. Stiles went inside once to bring out desert; a chocolate pie with lots of real whipped cream. Ok, so he'd made it with pudding and reddi-whip, and not from scratch, but he wasn't that talented. Derek didn't seem to care.

After he'd cleared the plates away, they went inside to pick a movie. Derek vetoed a romcom. Stiles shot down a horror flick. They settled on an action adventure and both of them critiqued the fights and explosions.

Derek commented on a fight scene, "Defending like that would have broken his wrist."

On another, Stiles couldn't help shouting, "Oh, please! Mythbusters proved that you can't do that! Come on! Have some realism, at least!"

Later, he complained,"He was just shot in the chest. Unless he has werewolf healing, he shouldn't have gotten up after that." Stiles jabbed Derek, and then yelled when the guy (who'd just been shot in the chest) jumped from roof top to roof top, "That defies the laws of physics! What is this, a cartoon?! Cartoon physics do not apply in the real world."

"Stiles, this is a movie. Movie logic applies."

"This isn't a sci fi movie or a martial arts movie. This should at least seem marginally plausible."

"If it makes you feel better, assume they're all supernaturals of some sort pretending to be government agents. Will that make it more acceptable?"

"Yes, actually."

Derek smiled and tugged his mate closer. The next time Stiles griped about how unrealistic the movie was, Derek reminded him, "Werewolf, remember?"

"Doesn't have to be a werewolf. A were-anything, really. It's so unfair. Every supernatural I've ever met is freaky strong and agile."

"We also have our weaknesses."

"I guess. Humans still can't compete."

"I don't know. You've done a pretty good job."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"Cool!" He kissed Derek and curled into his mate. Step two was going well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Too High a Price **by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 8 of 10**

Stiles decided that it was time to move to step #3. Opening the business.

He wanted it on the edge of their territory. They found a little place that had once been a little strip mall at the edge of town. All the businesses were gone, and they bought it for very little money because the owner wanted to get rid of it.

Lydia and the Sheriff helped with all the permits and paperwork. They hired contractors to come in and rebuild the space to their specifications. The official store front would be a boutique that Lydia owned. In one of the 'closed' store areas, Stiles' business would operate. The back receiving door would admit people needing help.

There was, of course, a door that opened from the store room of the boutique into the clinic, but it was both physically and magically reinforced. The only people that could get through were ones that were allowed.

Derek and Isaac would be with Stiles at all times. Scott would help out part time, as would Boyd and Danny. It was going to be a pack effort. Also willing to help were Deaton and Dr. Morrell. The doctor would come and be on hand one day a week, and he'd be available to call if somebody with something serious stumbled in. Dr. Morrell also helped Stiles come up with a price guideline, though he wanted to be able to help regardless of money.

The construction was finally done, the boutique was stocked, and they were ready to open. Lydia, as acting owner, was on hand for the first day. Erica was there as well for the boutique. Chris showed up to help out at the clinic. "You never know what you're going to get. Having extra protection won't hurt."

Stiles hadn't been expecting much for either business on the first day, and he was surprised. Very surprised. Lydia had evidently been telling her friends and the boutique actually saw brisk business. Boyd ended up having to help up front.

Stiles' very first customer was a woman who'd had a curse cast on her. It had been cast by a jealous ex-girlfriend and was causing a nasty case of acne and skin problems. She wanted the curse removed. At first, Stiles was stymied. He wasn't sure this was up his alley, but after a phone call to Deaton, he thought he might be able to deal with this. He cast a circle around her, and then he looked for the threads of magic he'd been taught to see. Reaching for them, he willed the negative energy to be broken. He saw her as free of the curse. He felt the energy snap and then dissipate. The woman looked remarkably better already.

Not what he anticipated dealing with, but a success!

Not long after, another person came in. Stiles wasn't sure if they were supernatural or not. If they were, they didn't have fast healing. This one needed a broken arm set and Derek handled that. Stiles found out afterwards that the man had been a selkie. Derek had smelled the sea on him.

The rest of that day was spent doing things like healing a pixie's wing to dealing with a magical book. Evidently, the book kept coming back to the man. He'd thrown it out, tried to burn it, and gave it away. It ended up back with him by the next day. Since it gave him the creeps, he wanted it gone. Luckily, Lydia is immune to magic. She took it from him and would hang on to it overnight. Hopefully that would break the enchantment, or whatever it was. If not, the guy would come back the next time and they'd try something else.

The unofficial business was only open three days a week, though the boutique was open five days a week. Sometimes they'd get called in on off days, like the time that Erica had called, sounding a little stressed. A pack of werewolves were at the store. Two had been shot with wolfsbane and needed help. Derek, Stiles, Isaac, and Scott went. It took three attempts to get the right variety of aconite, but both werewolves lived. They left without causing a fuss and were grateful for the help.

Another time, they got a call from a pack who'd had a run in with hunters. Their human pack mate needed medical attention and they didn't want to risk going to the hospital. Dr. Morrell was busy, so Derek and Stiles went with back up from Erica and Boyd. Fortunately, it wasn't life threatening. The woman needed some stitches and bandaging. Derek dealt with the stitches, while Stiles worked his mojo. When they left, Fiona was being made comfortable by her pack mates and was on her way to recovery.

It wasn't entirely what he'd expected. Things ranged from the tragic to the totally bizarre. He outright refused to help anybody harm another, or do something that didn't fall under the "healing" category. Granted, his ability was much more versatile because it was centered on belief, but that didn't mean that he wanted to use it for those things. They hadn't had a problem since opening, but they were prepared when it did.

The guy came in all bluster and talking tough. Derek tagged him as an omega. He wanted Stiles to help him win at gambling. When the young man refused, the omega got upset and didn't want to take no for an answer. Stiles gave a signal and Derek stepped behind the counter. Stiles swung the mountain ash partition shut. The wolf got a surprise when he reached for Stiles and his hand couldn't get past the partition. "What the hell?!"

Stiles stood there calmly. "I'll give you one warning. Leave and don't come back."

The werewolf continued to growl, eyes blazing yellow. Stiles slapped his hand on a symbol etched into the wall and willed his energy into it. It flared blue and the waiting area began to glow. The wolf howled, eyes rolling. He still tried pushing past the partition and Stiles pushed more energy into the symbol. The werewolf was forced back into his human state with a whimper. He left, and Derek followed for a ways to be sure that he was gone.

The next event occurred when Fiona was there to get her stitches removed. She was accompanied by several pack members . The omega showed back up acting smug. "Can't pull the same trick now, can you? Might hurt your paying customers!"

Derek and Isaac moved in close to Stiles, while the other pack put themselves between Fiona and the omega. One of them glanced at Stiles. "This one been giving you trouble?"

Derek answered. "He was warned off once. I'll remove him."

"Don't trouble yourself, Alpha Hale. I'll escort him out."

The omega obviously did not have common sense, because he turned to the wolf and asked, "What are you gonna do about it, huh?"

Two of Fiona's wolves roared in his face and grabbed an arm each. They dragged him out kicking and screaming. When the door shut, Stiles looked at Fiona. "Let's get those stitches out." She simply smiled and followed him into the back.

###

The businesses were a bigger success than any of them had accounted for. The boutique was becoming insanely popular among the upper class citizens of Beacon Hills. Lydia remained as an owner in name and only stopped in to pick which items to stock, but all the women knew it was her store. Erica started working full time, happy to work for the pack. Not that she hadn't liked her old job, but it was nice not having to pretend to be human with her employers. Chris also helped out. He said that it gave him something to do.

Stiles still occasionally worked with Dr. Morrell, but was kept pretty busy with his side of things. Often, he was calling the doctor with cases because people would show up with stuff that was way beyond anything that he could (or wanted to) handle.

Derek and Stiles were always working side by side. Derek handling things like stitches, IV's, and wound treatment. Stiles using his abilities to deal with curses and spells, and to help people heal faster. They kept it to three days a week so that they weren't overwhelmed. Dr. Morrell had been right; there were scores of people in need of less than conventional help, but they never made it to somebody like the doctor.

There were still the occasional attempts to take Stiles at first, but they dwindled. Fiona's pack wasn't the last to help fend off would be Stiles-nappers. In fact, his clinic was creating a fair amount of good will in the area. It was going well, and some of the people he'd helped spread the word. With the backing of Dr. Deaton and Dr. Morrell, Stiles was regarded highly. It certainly didn't hurt that Chris Argent's presence had been noted. Not only was the Hale pack helping other supernaturals, but they were doing so with the blessing of the Argents.

It had its ups and downs, with slow days and days that they were dealing with so much that every spare pack member was called in to help. Like with anything, they dealt with people who were total jerks and they'd rather toss them on their ears than help them...but they didn't. Fiona's pack became friends with theirs, and they occasionally all got together. They met all sorts of interesting people, and Stiles' bestiary was ever expanding with new creatures and information. In all, it wasn't a bad way to make a living. He wasn't as upset about this path in his life as he had been, and didn't regret not using his college degree.

Between the businesses and Lydia's management of the finances, the pack was in a really good place. Stiles and Derek made sure all the pack members were taken care of. Even Chris, and by extension Allison, were cared for.

###

Stiles was having a rare quiet moment with Derek . They were relaxing in the hot tub, looking up at the stars. "If same sex marriage were legal, would you want to get married?"

The alpha made a hmmm'ing noise.

"That's so not helpful!" He splashed water at his mate. "Would you want to?"

"It's not legal. So why ask?"

"Oh my God, Derek! You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked." Stiles turned back to pushing his hands through the jets of water, watching how it affected the flow.

"I don't need a piece of paper to tie us together. This is for life. We're already bound together in every way possible. But yes, if it were legal, I'd marry you."

Stiles went still and quiet. "Really?'

Derek gently pulled him close. "How can you not know the answer to this by now? You are my mate. We're bound together by your magic. Our lives are so intertwined that there is no separating them, and I wouldn't want to." He let his feelings flow down the link, saying the words that were still hard for him to say. He loved Stiles, he just wasn't great at saying it.

Stiles leaned into him and grinned. "Awesome."

###

It started with a phone call. Stiles knew who it was from the caller ID, but he answered anyway. "Hello, Allison."

"Well. So it's true. Allison Argent is on speaking terms with werewolves." The voice that came through was male and definitely not Allison's.

"So, may I know who I'm speaking to? Or should I call you 'Fred'? You sound like a Fred. Oh, and I'm human, by the way."

"I know exactly who you are, Mr. Stilinski: son of the Sheriff, mate of the alpha, resident magic worker, and do-gooder. Have I missed anything?"

"I have a degree in mythology and folklore, along with one in English. You didn't mention those."

"I'd heard that you're a smart ass. Guess the rumors were right."

"Well then, I'm pleased to have lived up to my reputation. What can I help you with?"

"Nothing much. I've been hearing how Chris was helping the local pack. I didn't think it could be true, but I guess it is. Chris Argent has turned traitor. How sad for his daughter. You can let him know that his old friend Calder called asking for him, would you?" The phone clicked.

Stiles hit the off button and called Chris. "I may have bad news. I got a call from Allison's phone. A man named Calder. Says that you're old friends. He mentioned hearing that you're working with the pack and he threatened Allison."

There was silence. "Damn it." Chris' voice was soft. "I need to make some calls. Look. I know that there's a lot of bad blood between Allison and the pack, but..."

"Chris, I'll see what I can do. I know that Scott will help. I'll talk to Derek and the others. I won't make guarantees, but I'll try."

"That's all I can ask. Thanks."

"Sure thing. Let me know."

Stiles got up and turned to get Derek. He was already there, standing in the doorway looking angry. Stiles immediately raised his hands in a placating gesture. "You don't have to help. I promised that I'd ask and here's me, having asked by default. BUT, I didn't promise anything so don't give me that angry face."

"You're going to help." It wasn't a question. Derek was stating it.

"Yeah. No matter how I feel about her, she's Chris' daughter. Scott still loves her. I kind of have to help find her."

The alpha was matter of fact. "She almost got you killed."

"I know. She also got you and Isaac tortured for eight days. Believe me, I haven't forgotten. I'll never trust her. I don't really like who she became, but I'll still help find her. Not for her. For Scott and Chris."

"Isaac is staying home."

"Agreed. Anybody who comes should do so because they choose to, not because you tell them to. It needs to be their choice."

Derek nodded. "Call Scott. I'll talk to the others."

As predicted, Scott flipped out. Stiles had to keep him from heading off right away. "I'm still waiting on a call from Chris. We don't know for sure yet. We need to go in with a plan." Once he'd talked Scott down, he found Derek.

Isaac was arguing with him. The beta wanted to go. "Scott's my friend. I'm going."

A muscle was twitching in Derek's jaw, causing Stiles to intervene before the alpha pulled rank on Isaac. "I'd really like it if you could keep an eye on my dad, Isaac. I'm not sure what we're dealing with, and this could be a trap. In fact, I ought to let Deaton and Matt know what's going on."

The young werewolf protested, "I'm your body guard, and like I said, Scott is my friend. I should be there."

Stiles eyes flicked to Derek, who gave a firm shake of his head. "I really need you here. I trust you to be able to handle my father. You know how us Stilinski men can be. As soon as he catches wind of this, he'll want to be involved. I need you to keep him out of this. Can you do that for me, please?"

Isaac slowly nodded. "I know this isn't about protecting your dad, but yeah. I'll do it."

"Thanks, Isaac." He looked at Derek. "So who's on board?"

"Erica's response was 'Hell, no!'. Boyd and Danny agreed."

"I'm thinking that may be a good thing. I actually am concerned about this being a trap. I'd like it if Erica can keep an eye on Lydia. I think Mrs. McCall is working, but if she's not, we may want to have her with either Isaac or Erica. Or...you. Are you staying?"

Derek gave him a look like he was an absolute idiot. Even Isaac made a rude noise. "If you're stupid enough to go after Allison, I need to be there to keep you alive."

"Staying alive is rather high on my priority list, so that would be great. Awesome, even." He gave Derek a smile. "Thanks."

Shortly after, Chris called. "Calder has her. I may have a lead on where he's at, but word is that he may have already...already killed Allison."

"Crap. We need to find out for sure. Do you know how many hunters he has?"

"Calder is old school, Stiles. He's survived a long time. He's good at what he does. I don't think he's got a lot with him. He usually runs as a group of four, but he doesn't need more. He's dangerous."

"We've got you, Derek, Boyd, Danny, Scott, and me. We've got some tricks that we haven't pulled out for you yet. We have a shot at this. Meet us here and we'll head out. I have to set up my back pack. Any of them magic users?"

"No. They really are old school. They believe that magic users aren't truly human either, so be careful. They won't hesitate to take you out."

"Noted. See you soon, Chris."

As they waited for people to arrive, Stiles loaded his backpack. He kept a minimum of stuff to use against magical creatures; though he didn't eliminate it, just in case. Instead he packed different forms of wolfsbane, several lighters, and herbs and oils for healing. He also stuffed it full of bandages and medical supplies.

When everybody arrived, they left in two vehicles. They wanted to make sure that they had enough people to drive in case anybody was too injured. It wasn't that long of a ways, and they parked a distance from where Chris had been told that Calder was holding Allison. Walking in the woods behind the area, the wolves used their senses to detect if anybody was near. Stiles was already feeding energy through the pack bond, and it was rising in a low hum for the those close to him.

Derek stopped. "I'm smelling wolfsbane. I'm not hearing a heartbeat.."

Chris looked around and then up. Hidden in the foliage was a mechanism designed to spray wolfsbane below. He traced along it to find the trip wire, finding that it was a pressure plate instead. "He's gotten a little more sophisticated. We'll need to go around this, but be careful. He probably has the whole area rigged."

They found several more traps of varying designs and types. You almost had to admire the man's skill, in a macabre way. Stiles was carefully noting stuff in his brain for future reference. You never know when something might come in handy. They made it to the house. It was at the end of a little cul de sac, with two neighbors.

Chris looked to the wolves. "Are the neighbors home?"

"I'm picking up one heartbeat in the house next to them. Asleep, I think. Either that or they have a very low natural rhythm. The third house is empty." Derek concentrated. "Four in the house. One of them is Allison."

Scott's voice was raw. "She's hurt. Her heart beat is slow and sluggish. We need to get in there."

Stiles grabbed him. "Woah. We go in as a group. No Lone Rangers or Leroy Jenkins!"

Derek looked confused. "Leroy Jenkins?"

Boyd rolled his eyes. "It's a gaming thing. Or so I've been told." He looked pointedly at Stiles.

Chris held his hand up. "We go in as a group. Let me lead. I'll be able to check for some of his standard traps. We go in the back, and we go quiet. Try not to draw attention. If possible, try not to kill anybody." He looked around. "Are we good?"

Stiles glanced at his pack. Derek nodded. "We're good."

Chris cleared his throat. "Stiles, stay in the back. As I said, they won't hesitate to kill you."

"Got it. Stay in the back, don't get dead."

The back door was rigged with an alarm. Chris was pretty sure that he'd disarmed it. None of the heartbeats changed, so Derek was fairly sure that they were unaware of their presence. The wolves identified that one person was downstairs, and they quickly knocked him out. That left two upstairs with Allison. The stairs were a kill zone. They were straight, narrow, and easy to defend from above. Chris was sure that the roof was rigged in some way, so they didn't want to risk that approach.

Stiles thought that he might have a solution. He pulled out some vials that when combined make smoke. When everybody was ready, he mixed them together and let it billow up the stairs. It alerted the guys upstairs to their presence, but it made the wolves harder to hit. Derek had ordered him to stay downstairs until he was given the clear, so he concentrated on sending as much power as possible through the link to his pack.

The group slipped up the stairs, staying low and to the walls. Shots rang out and Stiles felt someone get hit. He wasn't sure who, but it wasn't Derek or Scott. He heard snarls, another shot, and a thud. There was another shot and then Derek was back at his side. "Clear. Danny's been hit in the leg. Wolfsbane, but we have plenty of bullets to use."

Stiles let Derek guide him through the smoke. The area up top was foggy, but not so bad that he couldn't see. Danny was sitting in the hall. One of the hunters was on the floor in the hall with them. He could see the feet of another sticking out the doorway.

Chris appeared from that door. "They fired shots and the neighbor may have reported it. Somebody needs to take care of Danny and then you need to get out. Head back. I'll find my own way home."

Boyd had already pulled some bullets out of the gun and opened them. Stiles handed him a lighter and went in to check on Allison. She'd been shot. It was a gut wound, and it looked bad. Stiles only knew that she was alive when Derek told him. He left the bandages for Chris, and they took off. He'd had to drag Scott with them. He'd wanted to stay with Allison.

As they left through the back, the wolves could hear the sirens. Stiles couldn't hear them yet, but it meant that they needed to move. The wolfsbane had been removed from Danny's leg, but he still wasn't moving fast. Stiles took a second and willed energy to flow into his friend and speed the healing. He saw Danny blink for a second and then begin to move better. Stiles smiled at him. "I may be human, but I have my uses."

Derek nudged him. "Shut up and move."

He didn't sound angry, so Stiles blew him a kiss. "Love you too."

###

They piled in the cars and drove home. Stiles thanked Danny and Boyd for coming. Boyd especially had reason to hate Allison, but he just shrugged. "Derek was going. I saw no reason not to."

It was many hours later and Stiles still waited for Chris' call. When it came, Scott jerked awake. "Allison just came out of surgery. She'll make it, but she may need to come home for recovery. One more thing: Calders wasn't there. He wasn't one of them men in the house. He's still out there somewhere, so be careful."


	9. Chapter 9

**Too High a Price **by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

Warning: Some serious violence and threats in this chapter. Also contains swearing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 9 of 10**

Stiles stared in horror at the sight in from of him.

It was pack night and he'd run late with a patient. He could hear the roars and chaos from his dad's driveway. He burst into the house at a full run. He was startled to see the couch tipped on its back, his dad crouched behind it, hand holding his…nerf gun?

Furniture was tipped over, being used as cover. Nerf darts were literally everywhere. He was relieved to see that all pictures and breakables had been removed, but it was still a mess. Before he could even open his mouth, he was hit with foam darts from all directions. Derek, who had followed him inside, now ducked behind him. "Oh great. Use me as a human shield."

Derek called out. "Have you got a gun for me?"

One came flying from behind the recliner and the alpha snatched it out of the air. Stiles muttered, "Show off." He moved to crouch next to his dad. "Is there a gun for me?"

The Sheriff nodded and pointed. It was next to Erica. All the way across the room. "Can we have a cease fire as I get my gun?"

"No!" was heard from every corner, so he scrambled across the open floor, feeling foam darts hit him left and right.

The great nerf battle of Stilinski 'castle' was had. The wolves were dashing back and forth, trying to hit each other. The Sheriff took shots at anybody who came past. Stiles and Lydia didn't hit a lot, but they had a lot of fun trying.

Derek was eventually declared the winner after he literally did a flip over the couch, avoiding several foam darts in a move reminiscent of 'The Matrix', and then pegged Boyd between the eyes.

They relaxed later and talked about pack stuff. Stiles could see Scott dying to talk, but afraid to. Being a good best friend, he brought it up. "Allison will be getting out of the hospital soon. She'll be staying with Chris to recover."

Danny glanced at Scott. "How will this affect the pack? Will she be allowed close to Stiles or Derek?"

"No. There's still a restraining order in effect for the next 18 months. The judge renewed it as part of the terms of her coming to Beacon Hills. She can't contact or come near me, Derek, or Isaac."

"What about Scott?"

Derek leaned back in the chair. Stiles had brought this up to him days before, so he expected this. "I've spoken with Chris. He's given his word that Allison will abide by the treaty and by the restraining order. She can still see Scott. Scott can see her. It's not like he hasn't been visiting her in the hospital."

Erica was a little hostile. "I can't believe that we're allowing this! How many times does she have to turn on us for you all to get a clue?"

The alpha stared her down. "I don't like Allison, but there's no way for us to keep her from staying with her father. As long as she abides by the treaty, we stay out of her way. What she and Scott do is their business. Just so long as Scott remembers to keep all pack information to himself there will be no problems."

Scott looked around at his pack. "I won't betray the pack."

Erica's voice was shrill. "But _she_ will! She's always sorry afterwards, but never sorry enough not to have done it in the first place."

Scott looked broken. "I'm not asking you to trust her. Derek's already made it clear that Allison will never be part of the pack again. I know what she's done to all of you. All of us." He looked to Stiles and his friend gave him a small nod. "I love Allison. I can't explain it. It's never been the smart thing to do, or even the right thing. It just is, I guess."

Derek wanted one thing to be clear to his beta and to his mate. "If she betrays us again, I'll kill her personally. I don't care if Chris calls in all his favors and a wave of hunters descend on the town. I will kill her if she turns on us." The alpha's eyes flashed red.

Stiles responded, "I'd help you dispose of her body." Scott looked at his friend, mildly horrified. "Scott, buddy, if she threatens us again, we have no choice." Scott reluctantly agreed.

Discussions moved on to the boutique. Lydia wanted to take the store online, as well as have the physical location. Danny was going to help set up a webpage. Nobody had any objections, though it would require somebody else to help out with the store. Erica already had her hands full handling the store. Adding on the online business would require extra help. They discussed scheduling, but decided to put that idea on the back burner.

Talk came around to Calders. They had no idea if he was long gone, or if he'd be gunning for Allison and her dad again. It didn't change much for the pack itself. They lived under constant threat and were kind of used to it.

###

Life continued on. Allison came back. Scott saw her when he could, but he never let it cut into pack time. Chris still came and helped at the clinic. Sheriff Stilinski stopped by most nights, and pack meetings were still at his house. Erica ran the boutique, and Lydia kept it stocked with the most fashionable items. Boyd spent his time after work helping Erica with the store. Isaac happily played body guard. It was the day to day act of living, and in some ways it was a novelty. The normal stuff minus the drama was rare in their lives.

Being what they were, it never stayed that way for long. Chris stopped in to their house one morning. Since he had never done that before, Stiles knew that something was up. He let the man in and offered him breakfast. He declined, simply accepting some coffee.

Derek had heard him arrive and was already downstairs. After taking a deep drink of his coffee, Chris spoke. "I'm pretty sure that Calders is in the area. I've been getting word that he's been spotted a few times. I'm not sure who he's going to go for. Allison and I are definitely targets because he views us as betrayers. That being said, he won't limit himself to us. You're all targets. I'm reasonably sure that he won't go for the Sheriff or Mrs. McCall. They're fully human and have no association with the supernatural outside of their children. There's a strong possibility that he'll go after Deaton or Stiles. Derek's another possibility, as the alpha."

"Deaton is pretty good at taking care of himself, and Scott works with him most of the day. We'll alert him."

"Good. I'll keep a look out and see if I can figure out what he's planning." He finished his coffee. "Let me know if you run into trouble. I'll do what I can. I owe you." He shook hands with the alpha and left.

###

The clinic had already been busy when an omega came in with aconite poisoning. He wasn't like the other rogue; he just wanted to be healed. He said that a hunter had caught him and injected him with the wolfsbane. Then he'd been let go. Stiles was slightly suspicious, but he didn't want to just let the wolf die.

They'd been forced to make an incision at the injection site to allow the wolfsbane ash to enter the werewolf's system. Being an omega, he didn't have the control that a werewolf in a pack had. When the ash hit his system, he howled in agony and lashed out.

Isaac pushed Stiles back. Derek roared at the omega, using his alpha abilities to try to calm the werewolf. Still in a mindless state of pain, he raked his claws along the alpha's chest. Derek easily held him down. Over the roaring of the two werewolves, Stiles thought he heard gunshots. The noise got louder and he was sure it was gun fire now. He could hear the sounds of fighting in the waiting room, and he quickly texted the pack.

He also sent a quick text to his father and Chris.

Smoke started seeping into the treatment room and Stiles realized that they'd need to escape. Pressing a button hidden under the counter, a door opened that lead into an unused store. "We need to get out!"

The omega had finally stopped fighting, and he lay there panting. Derek grabbed him and all four of them went out. Stiles turned back and carefully shut the hidden door. The alpha deposited the wolf on the floor and commanded Isaac to keep Stiles there. Moving quickly, Derek was gone before Stiles could protest.

The omega was still shaky and out of it. He didn't seem to be aware of their circumstances. Stiles tried to move close to check on him, but Isaac stopped him. "You're not pack. He might still try to hurt you."

Wanting to know more of what was happening, Stiles went to the storefront windows. Dust and closed signs covered most of them, but he peered out into the front parking lot. He didn't have a good view. He was trying to peel a sign off for a better look when a shadow fell on the window. He barely had time to throw himself down when gunshots broke the glass above him, sending shards flying into the room.

A smoke bomb was lobbed inside and it began filling the store with acrid fumes. Stiles could hear Isaac and the other wolf coughing. Being close to the broken window and further from the smoke bomb, his air was still clear. Unfortunately, it put him very close to the hunter. Ignoring the glass, he crawled right under the window, hoping that the hunter couldn't see him. Another spray of bullets went above him, raking the interior of the store.

He could hear voices outside and then gunfire sounded again, this time focused somewhere else. Stiles moved along the wall, trying to stay out of view. There was an old display rack to one side, and if he could get to it, he might have protection. He got as close and scrambled on hands and knees to get behind it. Gunfire raked the area, barely missing him. He tried peering out to see if he could spot Isaac, but bullets struck near him and he pulled back.

Suddenly Isaac was next to him. The werewolf was gasping. "Wolfsbane smoke."

When Stiles asked about the omega, Isaac just shook his head. The beta looked Stiles over. "You're bleeding."

"What?"

Isaac coughed, doubling over. When he subsided, he pointed at Stiles. "Bleeding."

Stiles looked down at himself. He'd cut himself on the glass. Since it didn't really hurt, he'd worry about it later. He got Isaac positioned in an area with less smoke, but still protected by the display. He tried cautiously peeking out again, and nothing happened. The area was still hazy, but he could see the shape of the other werewolf lying prone on the floor.

Finding a small metal hook, he tossed it into the room. Bullets sprayed that area. "Crap. We're trapped. Isaac, how many of them, do you know?"

"It's hard to tell. We had people in the waiting room and I can't tell who's a hunter and who's was a customer. At least two. The guy there and another in the boutique. Maybe more."

"I know Derek's ok, but can you tell where he is?"

"No. He's close. That's all I know."

"Ok." Stiles thought. He had nothing to help him right now. "Hey, how good is your aim?"

"Decent. Why?"

"We have all these hook things. Think you could hit him with a few? Maybe we can knock him out or hurt him long enough to get back inside the clinic?"

"They're called j-pegs. And I can try."

Isaac grabbed a handful and lobbed one toward the front. Stiles heard more glass breaking. "Did you get him?"

"No. Too much glass." He turned and stood up long enough to throw another one.

Bullets rained down on them and Stiles yanked him down. "Are you ok? Did you get hit?"

"No. I'm fine." He patted Stiles' shoulder. "Sit tight." Isaac threw himself sideways and started throwing metal hooks as fast as could while he slid. A few bullets struck the floor near him, but then the trajectory arced upwards as the hunter fell, taken out by one of the hooks. Isaac crouched, waiting. When no more bullets came, he cautiously made his way to the window. Looking around, he reached over the window sill and grabbed the hunter's gun. He'd broken the man's nose. Hopefully he'd be down for a while.

Stiles was already checking the omega. Finding him alive, the young man began dragging him back towards the clinic. Isaac stopped Stiles, standing by the secret door, and listening. With a nod, he clicked the switch and the door opened. Isaac went through first, waving Stiles in. The omega's feet got stuck on the lip of the door, and Isaac had to help Stiles lift the wolf.

The waiting room was empty. There were no bodies, but there was blood. Empty smoke canisters littered the floor, and the darkened glass was shattered. Stiles could hear sirens in the distance. He turned to Isaac. "Were the bullets wolfsbane?"

At the beta's nod, he hurried into the patient room. The wolfsbane bottle was still out. "Let's hope it's the same variety."

He lit it and when it was ash, he told Isaac, "Hold him down." He shoved ash into the two bullet wounds he could find. The wolf convulsed, too weak to fight much. "Get him out of here!" Isaac hesitated. He was supposed to watch over Stiles. "GO! We can't explain a wounded werewolf to police. Get him out. I'm fine."

Isaac threw the other wolf over his shoulder and was out the back door, running for the woods. Stiles started concealing the clinic. They'd thought of this possibility, knowing that attacks could cause the police to be called. With the kind of money that Derek had, they could afford to special order things.

With the pull of a lever and a solid push, the examination table lowered. Stiles threw a sheet over it and dragged in some chairs from the waiting room. It now looked enough like a break room to pass a casual inspection. All of the medical equipment and bottles were quickly shoved into a hidden compartment.

Making sure that the back door was shut, Stiles moved over to the door into the boutique's storage room. Listening as closely as he could, he waited. When he didn't hear anything, he crouched low and opened the door. Bullets went flying over his head and he slammed the door shut. "Shitshitshitshit!"

The door shuddered as somebody on the other side kicked it. The noise stopped and bullets blasted at the door handle. Stiles ran, heading towards the patient room. Going outside would leave him a sitting duck, but if the other hunter was still knocked out, maybe none of rest of them were aware of the exit into the other store yet. The police were almost here and he just had to survive a little while longer. He skidded around the door, knocking over a chair, and hit the button. He hesitated, making sure that he didn't see anybody, and then he went through. No bullets came flying at him, so he shut the door.

Light streamed through the broken window, lighting up the haze still hanging in the air. In a totally random stream of thought, Stiles almost thought that it was cool looking. He looked over at the doorway out; wondering if a hunter was waiting on the other side. He had no way of knowing. He crept slowly through the dust and smoke, wincing when he stepped on some glass with a loud crunch. Afraid that he might have alerted somebody to his presence, he moved quickly to the door.

Stiles stood there, hand on the door knob. With a twist and a quick yank, he opened the door. When nothing came through at him, he looked. It was clear. He could see the back lot and the woods through the door, and nobody was in sight.

Police cars were already pulling into the front lot. Heaving a sigh of relief, he shifted to move towards the windows. Somebody had been lying flat against the outside wall and Stiles hadn't seen him. The hunter spun through the open door and grabbed Stiles, wrapping and arm around his throat. He whispered in Stiles ears and he recognized it as the man on Allison's phone. Calders. "Stay quiet and I won't have to open your throat in front of your beloved father. I'll still kill you, but if you make a sound; I'll make sure that your father gets to hold you as you gasp your last, bloody, bubbling breaths through a slit in your throat."

Stiles believed him, and stayed quiet as the man dragged him out the back door and into the woods.


	10. Chapter 10

**Too High a Price **by Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

**_Note from the author: Thank you very much for the reviews and feedback!_**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters!**

**Chapter 10 of 10**

****

One second Stiles was being dragged towards the woods, the next Isaac was tackling the hunter. The young beta knocked the hunter away from Stiles and got between them. Calders stood up and laughed. "You think you can take me, kid? I've been at this longer than you've been alive."

The hunter started circling them, and Isaac kept himself between Calders and Stiles. It was a dizzying view from the ground, so Stiles dusted himself off and stood. Without looking, Isaac grabbed him and pulled him behind him. Stiles opened the link to Derek and the pack, and he filled Isaac with power where he was touching him. When the hunter lunged, the beta swiveled, managing to pull Stiles with him.

The knife went past them, and Isaac slammed his elbow down on the man's forearm. With a crunch, he broke Calders' arm. The hunter merely grunted and pulled back. He still held the knife and switched it to the other hand. He made as if to move in, but then threw the knife instead. As Isaac dodged, the hunter reached into his pocket. Stiles didn't know what it was, but Calders had a smile on his face that Stiles didn't like.

In a bid to keep them safe, Stiles directed a lot of energy at Isaac. He touched the beta's neck and shoved the power into him. For a brief moment Isaac arced back as if he'd been hit, and then he was moving in a blur. Faster than Stiles could see, the beta slammed the hunter, never giving him a chance to pull his weapon out. Calders slammed ten feet back into a tree and Isaac followed him in. He broke the man's other arm and then slammed his head into the tree trunk. Calders slid to the ground in a heap.

Isaac stood there for a few moments, back to Stiles. When he turned, Stiles could see that the beta's eyes were glowing so golden that they looked like they had their own light. He looked feral. "Isaac?"

The wolf stood there, claws still extended. He didn't answer or move towards Stiles. Not wanting to startle his friend, or trigger his instincts, Stiles stood still and waited. He saw movement at the corner of his eye and watched as Isaac reacted instantly. The beta was still moving very fast and he was just _there_. Isaac crouched between his human pack mate and whatever threat was coming. Then his brain registered that it was his alpha that approached.

Derek stepped in, touching his beta's shoulder. Isaac slumped, going completely human. The alpha's eyes glowed red as he looked up at his mate. "Sending that much power into a beta is dangerous. You're lucky he has great control."

"At the time, my only thought was keeping Calders from killing us."

Derek gave a tight smile. "I suppose that might have been important." He pulled his mate in, holding him tight and breathing in his scent.

"Where were you, anyway? We had a big party while you were gone."

"Dealing with the others. I'm not sure who the guys were with Allison, but these were Calders real group." Derek stepped back, but kept an arm around Stiles' shoulders. "We need to find your dad."

They briefly left Isaac guarding the unconscious hunter while they found an officer to arrest him. All of the attackers were taken away. There were plenty of witnesses saying that these men showed up and just opened fire. Some of Stiles' patients, instead of fleeing, had helped protect the humans shopping at the boutique.

At some point, Stiles found himself being shuffled off to an ambulance by his father, where he was bandaged up and sent in for stitches. Evidently, t-shirts were not proof against rolling around in glass. Who knew? Of course when he vocalized that thought, his dad rolled his eyes and pushed him along faster.

Since Derek and Isaac had to stay behind for questioning, Scott met him at the hospital. They were busy and Stiles was a low priority; so they sat and waited. And waited. Stiles got twitchy and almost jumped out of his skin when they finally called his name.

Mrs. McCall pulled some strings and arranged to be his nurse. None of the cuts were all that bad, but they stitched up the worst of them. Stiles thought he looked vaguely like Frankenstein, with the stitches and cuts making a patchwork on his arms and chest. He left the ER with his arms held out front, legs stiff, making cheesy monster noises. People stared at him like he was nuts and Scott just laughed at him.

The friends drove back to the store to see how things were going. It was starting to wrap up. Stiles spotted his dad and went over. "Hey, dad."

"Son. How'd it go at the hospital?"

Stiles hadn't put back on his shredded and bloody t-shirt. He was wearing a hospital scrub top that he promised to send back with Mrs. McCall. "I'm stylin. All I need is some bling!"

The Sheriff rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Stiles. What's the damage this time?"

"Just a few stitches. Nothing big. They didn't even send me home with pain killers! Told me to take Tylenol. Cheapskates!"

"Good for them." He moved them out of the way. "I'm glad that you're not badly hurt." He pulled his son in for a careful hug.

Stiles looked around. "Where's Derek?"

" He's helping the EMT's. One of the shooters is being unruly, but needs medical attention. Since Derek worked with some of this crew last year, they asked him to give them a hand."

"How about Isaac and Erica? I don't see them either."

Scott interrupted, "Chris and Allison are here." He pointed, and Stiles could see Chris' SUV pull in. He couldn't see Allison, but if Scott said she was here, then she was. The beta tilted his head to the side slightly, listening. "She's staying in the car. Chris didn't want to leave her home unprotected."

Chris hopped out and Scott waved. The older man met up with them. He looked at Stiles, almost apologetically. "I know that she shouldn't be here, but she's still recovering. I don't want to leave her alone in case Calders has anybody else out there."

"I'm ok with it." Stiles guessed that Derek was listening, and tried to sense what Derek was feeling through the bond. "I think Derek's is too." He turned to Scott. "Go ahead. I'm pretty sure that Derek will consider my safety covered with Dad and Chris here."

With a big grin, Scott set off to spend time with Allison. Chris shook his head. "My sister once referred to them as a Romeo and Juliet story, and she wasn't far off."

"I'm trying to keep it from being a tragedy, Chris. He's my best friend, and I don't want to see him hurt more than he already is."

Stiles dad got called away to handle something, so Stiles and Chris stood silently, watching people start to trickle out. Erica and Boyd exited the store, Lydia talking behind them. "Well, it's not a total disaster. I'm not sure if anybody will want to come to the boutique anymore, though. They may not feel safe."

Boyd shrugged. "Maybe it would be a good time to switch to an online store? That would reduce the number of humans caught in the crossfire if something else goes wrong."

Erica looked pained. "I was enjoying the store. I really liked it."

Lydia tapped her lips. "Well, then we keep the store. It would be a target anyways. Everybody knows that we own it. We'll just have to be creative!"

Stiles still hadn't seen Danny and Isaac. "Where are the others? Is Danny still at work?"

Lydia flipped her phone open. "He was here and left. He was dealing with the insurance company. They were arguing with him about covering the damages, but we specifically bought a policy that covered this sort of event. He's picking up his copy of the paperwork to prove it." Typing in text and then hitting send, she waited. Within seconds she had a response. "Isaac is on his way. I sent him for coffees."

Derek made his way over, the ambulance finally pulling away with their recalcitrant patient. Stiles looked him over. "You good?"

"Yeah." Derek tugged a little on Stiles' scrub top. "You?"

"Yup. I look like Frankenstein, though." He started doing his imitation, sound effects and all.

His dad chose that moment to come back. "Do I want to know? Strike that. I don't want to know."

He addressed them as a group. "Here's the situation. Most of the force is still trying to figure out why four gunmen would start shooting your business. I looks suspicious, but there was no sign of illegal activity. It is, however, the second time that your group has taken out gunmen and walked away. The saving grace here is that Calders was already implicated in Allison's kidnapping and we're going to charge him with attempted murder in her case. Given that Chris has been seen working at the store, we can probably pass this off as being aimed at him."

Chris spoke. "One of the men here today was involved in Stiles' shooting."

The Sheriff's face hardened. "Are any of the other hunters that shot my son associated with Calders?"

"Not that I'm aware of. It's common for unaffiliated hunters to team up with other groups. When my family was active, we had hired people working for us."

The Sheriff turned to his son. "I want you to head home. Stay put for a few days. Let this die down, and make sure that no more hunters are out there. I'll be by later once I've gotten this wrapped up."

"I'm fine, dad."

Stiles' dad didn't look or sound appeased. "Go home, Stiles."

"We have to board the place up and secure it. We don't want people walking away with Lydia's stock."

"Stiles, sweetie, nobody is going to want to buy it anyway. It's full of bullet holes and glass." Stiles looked like he was going to protest and Lydia held up her hand. "I'm sure that somebody can get the place secured if it's going to bother you that much."

Boyd raised a hand. "I'll do it. Erica wants to clean up and see what's salvageable anyway."

The Sheriff nodded at Boyd. "Thank you. Now you", he turned to his son, "get out of here. No more excuses."

"Fine, fine. I'm going." He dug in his pocket and pulled out his keys.

Derek promptly snatched them away. "I'm driving."

"What? Why?!"

"Because I'm not leaving the Camaro here."

"But my baby! She can't stay here all alone! What if somebody vandalizes her?"

Derek tossed the keys to Erica. "Give them to Isaac when he gets back. He came in with Stiles this morning anyway." Derek began towing his mate away.

"Tell Isaac not to scratch my jeep!"

"Your jeep will be fine, Stiles. Come on."

"Pfftt. Shows what you know. She's easily traumatized. Isaac could scar her for life!"

"If anybody's traumatized that vehicle, it's you. Isaac knows better than to hurt the jeep. Relax."

Derek had Stiles almost to the car when the young man yelled to the group, "Make sure he doesn't stay out too late with her. He has to have her back by curfew!"

###

Stiles was no sooner in the door of their home when Derek was peeling of the scrub top. "Hey! Easy there."

"It smells like hospital." The alpha inspected the cuts, as if he didn't trust the doctor to have properly treated him.

"They're mostly superficial, Derek." His mate ignored him.

"I should have stayed with you."

"I had Isaac, and you needed to make sure that Erica was safe. It's ok. Isaac did great!"

The older man dropped his forehead onto Stiles' shoulder. Neither of them spoke, Stiles just letting Derek have this moment of quiet. He wrapped his arms around his mate, and let the bond lay open. He felt Derek's concern for him, his fear, his love, and pride in how well the pack had handled this. Stiles emotions mirrored Derek's, and he let his power flow through the link, soothing the jagged edges.

They showered afterward, Derek carefully peeling off the bandages. His mate hissed a little when the hot water hit his wounds, and the alpha drew away his pain. He wanted the smell of the day washed from Stiles' pale skin. He didn't want to smell wolfsbane smoke, hospital antiseptic, or anybody else on his mate. He dried him and re-bandaged the deeper cuts, making sure to cover each with antibiotic ointment.

Derek had always known how fragile human life could be, but training as a paramedic had driven that home. The tiniest things could cause harm; a small cut left to get infected could spiral into septicemia and system shut down. He'd seen it. He was feeling off balance and protective. He didn't want to take any chances. With the dust washed away, he checked over every square inch of exposed skin. He rubbed ointment onto skinned knees, along a scratch left on Stiles' back from shattering glass, and ran his fingers over his mate's scalp checking for wounds.

Stiles was standing as still as he was able during the process. He knew that Derek cared deeply about all of them; he just wasn't good at showing it. He was still terrified of losing it all, and of losing his mate. This was him reassuring himself that Stiles was still here, still whole. His whole world had been lost to hunters once, and he'd never really get over that.

Finally reassured, Derek drew Stiles in close. He breathed him in; the smell of water and soap, and of Stiles. His mate. He ran hands down the firm planes of Stiles back, rubbing at knots of tension. As his mate relaxed, he relaxed with him. The tension of the day eased away, letting them concentrate only on each other.

###

The jeep came home just fine. Isaac along with it. With him came updates. Danny had faxed copies of the insurance paperwork to a lawyer and to the insurance company. The company promised that an adjuster would be out the next day.

Erica had saved a lot of the merchandise, Boyd has boarded up the windows, and both of them had cleaned up the broken glass.

Most importantly, nobody had been seriously hurt. One customer had been cut by breaking glass, and another had sustained a twisted ankle while trying to run on in high heels. Other than that, it was just Stiles' few cuts and Isaac; who showed no lingering symptoms from the smoke bomb.

His dad came by later, looking tired. The police had confirmed Calders' connection to Allsion's shooting. They'd also positively identified the man involved in Stiles' shooting. All of the men had rap sheets in various states around the country. One was even wanted overseas for a murder.

One by one, the pack trickled in. They lounged on the oversized couch, piling on top of each other. Not much was said; it was more that they were simply sharing in each other's presence. Somebody had bought a case of water and empty bottles littered the table. Occasionally somebody would go into the kitchen; calls for food following behind them.

The world kept throwing things at them: a kanima, alphas, hunters, and more. Yet here they were. That's what a pack is, thought Derek; stronger together.

~~fin


End file.
